Sociology & Society, COM-DIS
The study of human societies is an important tool for the improvement of living conditions. It analyzes the innumerable factors that are the makeup of human behavior and that can cause social injustice, stratification, and societal disorder in the form of crime, deviance, and revolution. It helps to find the best possible solutions to issues such as economic inequality, race relations, and gender discrimination. The discipline of sociology has grown by leaps and bounds in the last century with the contribution of scholars from different schools of thought.
Sociology & Society Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Elizabeth Leslie Rous Comstock was an Anglo-American Quaker minister and social reformer, an articulate abolitionist......
Auguste Comte was a French philosopher known as the founder of sociology and of positivism. Comte gave the science......
Concerned Women for America (CWA), American organization founded in San Diego, California, in 1979 by Beverly LaHaye......
concubinage, the state of cohabitation of a man and a woman without the full sanctions of legal marriage. The word......
conformity, the process whereby people change their beliefs, attitudes, actions, or perceptions to more closely......
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), interracial American organization established by James Farmer in 1942 to improve......
Edwin Grant Conklin was an American biologist noted for his studies of human evolution, who was a leading critic......
consanguinity, kinship characterized by the sharing of common ancestors. The word is derived from the Latin consanguineus,......
conspiracy theory, an attempt to explain harmful or tragic events as the result of the actions of a small powerful......
consumer psychology, Branch of social psychology concerned with the market behaviour of consumers. Consumer psychologists......
Alistair Cooke was a British-born American journalist and commentator, best known for his lively and insightful......
Charles Horton Cooley was an American sociologist who employed a sociopsychological approach to the understanding......
Elizabeth Penn Sprague Coolidge was an American philanthropist, herself a trained pianist, who is remembered for......
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a pioneer historian of Indian art and foremost interpreter of Indian culture to......
Carleton S. Coon was an American anthropologist who made notable contributions to cultural and physical anthropology......
John M. Cooper was a U.S. Roman Catholic priest, ethnologist, and sociologist, who specialized in studies of the......
Susan Augusta Fenimore Cooper was a 19th-century American writer and philanthropist, remembered for her writing......
cooperative, organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services. Cooperatives have......
Copley Medal, the most prestigious scientific award in the United Kingdom, given annually by the Royal Society......
coronation, ceremony whereby a sovereign is inaugurated into office by receiving upon his or her head the crown,......
corporate governance, rules and practices by which companies are governed or run. Corporate governance is important......
Costa Book Awards, series of literary awards given annually to writers resident in the United Kingdom and Ireland......
Council for World Mission, English mission organization, formed in 1966 by the merger of the Commonwealth Missionary......
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), independent nonpartisan think tank and publisher that promotes understanding......
count, European title of nobility, equivalent to a British earl, ranking in modern times after a marquess or, in......
cousin, a person whose last common ancestor with a given individual is at least two generations away. In English-speaking......
couvade, (from French couver “to hatch”) ritual behaviour undertaken, usually by a man, during or around the birth......
Miguel Covarrubias was a Mexican painter, writer, and anthropologist. Covarrubias received little formal artistic......
covenant marriage, type of marriage contract, currently available in three U.S. states, that imposes relatively......
coverture, Anglo-American common-law concept, derived from feudal Norman custom, that dictated a woman’s subordinate......
COYOTE, a prostitutes’ rights organization founded in San Francisco in 1973 by ex-prostitute Margo St. James. As......
Caroline Julia Bartlett Crane was an American minister who, after a productive career in Christian social service,......
credit union, credit cooperative formed by an organized group of people with some common bond who, in effect, save......
John Crerar was a U.S. railway industrialist and philanthropist who endowed (1889) what later became the John Crerar......
Cricket World Cup, international cricket championship held at four-year intervals that is considered the premier......
criminology, scientific study of the nonlegal aspects of crime and delinquency, including its causes, correction,......
Critical race theory is an intellectual and social movement and a loosely organized framework of legal analysis......
Croix de Feu, French political movement (1927–36). Originally an organization of World War I veterans, it espoused......
cross-cousin, the child of one’s mother’s brother or father’s sister. Scholars of kinship distinguish the different......
Crossword Book Awards, any of a series of Indian literary awards established in 1998 by Indian book retailer Crossword,......
crowdsourcing, a framework that brings together a large and decentralized group of people for gathering data, solving......
Henry Crown was a business executive and philanthropist. Crown left school in the eighth grade, worked as an office......
Paulus Cua was a Vietnamese scholar who contributed to the popular usage of Quoc-ngu, a romanized system of transcribing......
Cuban League, the earliest baseball league founded in Latin America (see also Sidebar: Latin Americans in Major......
cult of personality, a deliberately created system of art, symbolism, and ritual centred on the institutionalized......
cultural anthropology, a major division of anthropology that deals with the study of culture in all of its aspects......
cultural appropriation, adoption of certain language, behavior, clothing, or tradition belonging to a minority......
cultural evolution, the development of one or more cultures from simpler to more complex forms. In the 18th and......
cultural imperialism, in anthropology, sociology, and ethics, the imposition by one usually politically or economically......
Cultural Revolution, upheaval launched by Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in......
cultural studies, interdisciplinary field concerned with the role of social institutions in the shaping of culture.......
dimensions of cultural variability, a concept that emerged from the work of Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede......
culture, behaviour peculiar to Homo sapiens, together with material objects used as an integral part of this behaviour.......
Culture and Anarchy, major work of criticism by Matthew Arnold, published in 1869. In it Arnold contrasts culture,......
culture area, in anthropology, geography, and other social sciences, a contiguous geographic area within which......
culture contact, contact between peoples with different cultures, usually leading to change in both systems. The......
culture-and-personality studies, branch of cultural anthropology that seeks to determine the range of personality......
Andrew Cuomo is an American politician and attorney who served as the governor of New York from 2011 to 2021, when......
Curtis Cup, golf trophy awarded since 1932 to the winner of a biennial amateur women’s match played between teams......
Frank Hamilton Cushing was an early American ethnographer of the Zuni people. Cushing studied the Zuni culture......
Dalit, term used to refer to any member of a wide range of social groups that were historically marginalized in......
dame, properly a name of respect or a title equivalent to lady, surviving in English as the legal designation for......
dandy, term, dating to England in the late 18th century, that describes a man who pays fastidious attention to......
Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of the Dangote Group conglomerate.......
Anders Danielsson was the foremost peasant leader in early 19th-century Sweden. Danielsson was elected to the peasant......
Raymond A. Dart was an Australian-born South African physical anthropologist and paleontologist whose discoveries......
William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth was a British statesman who played a significant role in the events leading......
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist whose scientific theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation......
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), patriotic society organized October 11, 1890, and chartered by Congress......
Davis Cup, trophy awarded to the winner of an annual international lawn-tennis tournament originally for amateur......
Kingsley Davis was an American sociologist and demographer who coined the terms population explosion and zero population......
Day of Reconciliation, public holiday observed in South Africa on December 16. The holiday originally commemorated......
Day of the Dead, holiday in Mexico, also observed to a lesser extent in other areas of Latin America and in the......
Dayananda Sarasvati was a Hindu ascetic and social reformer who was the founder (1875) of the Arya Samaj (Society......
Francesco De Sanctis was an Italian literary critic whose work contributed significantly to the understanding of......
debutante, a young woman who is making a formal entrance into society. So-called debutante balls, dating back to......
deep ecology, environmental philosophy and social movement based in the belief that humans must radically change......
William Deering was an American businessman and philanthropist whose company was at one time the largest agricultural-implement......
Associations for the Defense of Rights, patriotic league formed in Anatolia and in Thrace in 1918, after the defeat......
deinstitutionalization, in sociology, movement that advocates the transfer of mentally disabled people from public......
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), one of several organizations associated with the Palestine......
Democratic Party of Korea (DP), centrist-liberal political party in South Korea. The party supports greater human......
demographics, the particular characteristics of a large population over a specific time interval. The word is derived......
The United States contains a highly diverse population. Unlike a country such as China that largely incorporated......
demography, statistical study of human populations, especially with reference to size and density, distribution,......
Frances Densmore was an ethnologist, foremost American authority of her time on the songs and music of American......
media dependency theory, a systematic approach to the study of the effects of mass media on audiences and of the......
descent, the system of acknowledged social parentage, which varies from society to society, whereby a person may......
desi, term broadly used to describe individuals, traditions, and products originating from the Indian subcontinent......
Deutscher Werkbund, important organization of artists influential in its attempts to inspire good design and craftsmanship......
devadasi, member of a community of women who dedicate themselves to the service of the patron god of the great......
Betsy DeVos is an American philanthropist and Republican political activist who served as the secretary of the......
Dia Art Foundation, multidisciplinary contemporary arts organization based in New York, New York, U.S. The nonprofit......
Diana, princess of Wales was the princess of Wales, former consort (1981–96) of Charles, prince of Wales (later......
The 1956 movie Anastasia offered a more hopeful ending to the decades of mystery that followed the execution of......
digital divide, term that describes the uneven distribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs)......
diorama, three-dimensional exhibit, often miniature in scale, frequently housed in a cubicle and viewed through......
disability culture, the sum total of behaviors, beliefs, ways of living, and material artifacts that are unique......
discrimination, the intended or accomplished differential treatment of persons or social groups for reasons of......
dissent, an unwillingness to cooperate with an established source of authority, which can be social, cultural,......