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Our Social World, Introduction to Sociology. Jeanne H. Ballantine and Keith A. Roberts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 2007. 562 pages. $64.95.
We are not generally enthusiastic about the pedagogy of the traditional textbook; therefore it is exciting to see a new offering such as Our Social World that is innovative in its pedagogical choices. Co-authored by two leaders in the teaching and learning movement, Jeanne Ballantine and Keith Roberts, this is an exceptionally well-organized and well-written text, and as such it is an exciting new option for any introductory sociology class.
At the center of the text is the concept of building the sociological imagination; what makes this text unique is that it challenges some of our assumptions about the role of the textbook in doing that. Our Social World is designed to build critical thinking skills, not simply to encourage memorization. It puts a process of questioning and discovery at the forefront. At the same time, its fifteen chapters cover the topics expected in an introductory text (deviance and social control, gender stratification, education, etc.). It has a very good sense of its audience of undergraduate readers and how to engage them and make the text appealing. Opening vignettes invite students to begin with the personal and move into public debates to see how sociological understanding can enrich those discussions. For instance, Chapter 8, on Race and Ethnic Group Stratification, begins with the story of an individual sex slave, Siri, and leads into a discussion about twenty-first century forms of slavery and about the ways that intersects...