The Myth of Individualism

How Social Forces Shape Our Lives

By (author) Peter L. Callero

Not available to order

Publication date:

28 February 2013

Length of book:

216 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442217447

The Myth of Individualism offers a concise introduction to sociology and sociological thinking. This engaging text challenges the dominant belief that human behavior is the result of free choices made by autonomous actors. Drawing upon personal stories, historical events and sociological research, Callero shows how powerful social forces shape individual lives in subtle but compelling ways. The second edition has been updated throughout, including new examples from the recent financial crisis and the Arab Spring. The second edition also features a new chapter on how media influences our lives.
Peter Callero has scored again with the second edition of The Myth of Individualism. As before, this text is highly recommended as a supplement to an introductory text in sociology. Callero has produced an extremely readable overview of some difficult theoretical and conceptual problematics in sociology. He is able to integrate issues of micro and macro sociology using excellent concrete examples. A complementary and dialectical relationship between symbolic interactionism and basic structuralism is accomplished that is comprehensible to undergraduate students. The dialectic is demonstrated in a way that is clearly critical and even counter-hegemonic. This text is a true pleasure to read.