Following is the list of important and useful books in different courses of Sociology:
Originals
- The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills (1959): Urges connecting personal troubles to broader social issues, a cornerstone for critical thinking in sociology.
- Suicide by Émile Durkheim (1897): Pioneering study linking individual acts of suicide to social integration, foundational for quantitative sociology.
- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber (1905): Explores how religious values shaped economic behavior, a classic in understanding culture’s role in society.
- The Social Construction of Reality by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1966): Introduces how knowledge and reality are socially created, hugely influential in symbolic interactionism.
- Distinction by Pierre Bourdieu (1979): Examines how taste and cultural preferences reinforce class divisions, a key text on social capital.
- The Civilizing Process by Norbert Elias (1939): Traces how manners and social norms evolved, shaping modern ideas of behavior and power.
- The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman (1950): Analyzes shifts in American character types, influential for studies of conformity and individuality.
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (2016): Gripping ethnography on housing instability, widely read for its vivid portrayal of poverty’s impact.
- The Second Shift by Arlie Russell Hochschild (1989): Highlights the unequal burden of domestic work on women, a landmark in gender and labor studies.
- The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman (1959): Uses a theatrical metaphor to explore how people manage impressions, essential for interactionist theory.
Basic Concepts
- Sociological Imagination – Mills
- Society – MacIver & Page
- Sociology – Haralambous
- What is Sociology? – Alex Inkles
- Sociology: A Biographical Approach – Berger & Berger
- Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective – Peter L., Berger
- Sociology: A Guide to Problems and Literature – T.B., Bottomore
- Human Society – Kingsley Davis
Theory and Thinkers
- Sociological Theory – George Ritzer
- Sociological Thought – Abraham & Morgan
- Master of Sociological Thought – Lewis Coser
- The Sociological Tradition – Robert A. Nisbet
- A History of Sociological Analysis – Tom Bottomore & Robert Nisbet
- The Structure of Sociological Theory – Jonathan Turner
Rural Sociology
- Rural Sociology: An Introduction by David L. Brown & Kai A. Schafft
- Introduction to Rural Sociology in India – A.R. Desai
- Rural Communities: Legacy and Change by Cornelia Butler Flora, Jan L. Flora, Stephen P. Gasteye
- Introduction to Rural Sociology by Sanderson, Dwigh
- Rural Sociology by S.L. Doshi
- Textbook of Rural Sociology by D. Kumar
Urban Sociology
- The Urban Sociological Imagination by Ray Hutchison & Mark Gottdiener
- The City Reader by Richard T. LeGates & Frederic Stout
- Urban Sociology: Images and Structure by William G. Flanagan
- The Urban Question: A Marxist Approach by Manuel Castells
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
- Urban Sociology by N. Jayaram
- Urbanization and Urban Systems in India by Ramachandran R.
- Cities and Urban Life in India by Kundu, Amitabh
- Urbanization in India: Challenges, Opportunities and the Way Forward by Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Ravi Kanbur, P.K. Mohanty
- Urban Sociology by R. P. Misra
Sociology of Religion
- Sociology of Religion: A Substantive and Transdisciplinary Approach by Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos Jr., Peter Kivisto
- The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion by Peter L. Berge
- Sociology of Religion by Malcolm B. Hamilton
- Religion in Sociological Perspective by Keith A. Roberts & David Yamane
- Religion and Society in India by André Béteille
- The Sociology of Religion in India by Rowena Robinson
- Caste and Religion in India by Surinder S. Jodhka
Society in India
- ‘Caste in Modern India and Other Essays’ by M. N. Srinivas
- ‘India: Social Structure’ by André Béteille
- ‘Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India’ by M. N. Srinivas
- ‘The Structure of Indian Society’ by A. R. Desai
- ‘Social Change in Modern India’ by M. N. Srinivas
- ‘Dominance and State Power in Modern India: Decline of a Social Order’ by Frankel & Rao (eds.)
- ‘Modernity and Ethnic Processes in India’ by Yogendra Singh
- ‘Indian Society: Structure and Change’ by N. Jayaram
- ‘Indian Society: Themes and Social Issues’ by Rajendra K. Sharma
- ‘Indian Society’ by S.C. Dube
- ‘Indian Society and Culture’ by Nadeem Hasnain
- ‘Society in India’ by Ram Ahuja
- ‘Understanding Indian Society: Past and Present’ by B. S. Baviskar & Tulsi Patel (eds.)
More will be added soon. Comment if we miss any important Book.
