Book Reviews

As a generalist journal, Humanity & Society publishes book reviews on a wide variety of topics.  We are particularly interested in books that are relevant to humanist sociology, broadly defined as a sociology that views people not only as products of social forces but also as shapers of social life and a sociology that is committed to work towards a more humane, equal, and just society.

Humanity & Society does not generally accept unsolicited reviews or reviews of textbooks. Exceptions may be made for texts that explicitly address humanist sociology in theory or practice.

To be considered as a reviewer, please contact the Book Review Editor, Robert J. Hironimus-Wendt, with a brief summary of your areas of interest and (if applicable) previous reviewing experience.  Potential reviewers are strongly encouraged to contact the Editor with suggestions for reviews in their areas of interest/expertise. Humanity & Society welcomes reviewers from a diverse array of backgrounds and viewpoints, including activists, graduate students, and practitioners in fields other than sociology.

Agreement to prepare a book review for Humanity & Society assumes that the reviewer has no substantial material or personal connection to the book or to the author.  Reviews in violation of this guideline will not be published.

To review for Humanity & Society, contact the Book Review Editor Robert J. Hironimus-Wendt at RJ-Hironimus-Wendt@wiu.edu

From the Book Review Editor—October 2009:

As the incoming book review editor, I would like to create a new list of those among us who would like to offer their services to review books, and their specialty areas. While this information is available from our membership directory, I would like to tailor the specialty areas to a slightly broader set of areas, consistent with those publishers routinely identify as content areas in the discipline of sociology. Below I have included an edited list of the membership sections used by the ASA. I have taken a few liberties to subsume some categories under broader themes (e.g., “Law” is subsumed under “Crime, Law, and Deviance”). I have also included a few alternative category names (Sociology of Knowledge) so as to group a few related categories together, and included a couple which are conspicuously absent (Rural Sociology, Humanist Sociology).

In addition, I am revising our book review guidelines, and will post these on the website soon. While I want to retain the humanist focus of our reviews in its broadest term, I want to also acknowledge that most of our members and readers are teachers, and would benefit by knowing whether the book being reviewed could be used our classrooms. Specifically, I would like us to also think about how these books might best be incorporated, for which courses, at what level, and for which students.

If you are interested in helping review books, please let me know by contacting me at the above address, and please include two or three areas of specialty in which you feel particularly well qualified to potentially review books.

Aging and the Life Course	History of Sociology	Race and Ethnicity
Children and Youth	Human Rights/ Humanist Sociology	Race, Class, and Gender
Class Stratification	Migration/Global Studies	Religion
Collective Behavior and Social Movements	Labor and Labor Movements	Rural Sociology
Community and Urban Sociology	Marxist Sociology	Sex and Gender
Crime, Law, and Deviance	Medical Sociology	Sexualities
Culture	Mental Health	Social Psychology
Economic Sociology	Methodology	Sociological Practice/Applied Sociology
Education	Organizations, Occupations, and Work	Sociology of Knowledge
Emotions	Peace, War, and Social Conflict	Sociology of Technology
Environment	Political Sociology	Teaching and Learning
Family	Population	Theory