Identity and Control:
How Social Formations Emerge (Second Edition)
Harrison C. White

Paper | 2008 | $29.95 / £20.95
Cloth | 2008 | $72.00 / £49.95
472 pp. | 6 x 9 | 9 line illus. 1 table.

Shopping Cart | Reviews | Table of Contents
Chapter 1 [HTML] or [PDF]

In this completely revised edition of one of the foundational texts of network sociology, Harrison White refines and enlarges his groundbreaking theory of how social structure and culture emerge from the chaos and uncertainty of social life. Incorporating new contributions from a group of young sociologists and many fascinating and novel case studies, Identity and Control is the only major book of social theory that links social structure with the lived experience of individuals, providing a rich perspective on the kinds of social formations that develop in the process. Going beyond traditional sociological dichotomies such as agency/structure, individual/society, or micro/macro, Identity and Control presents a toolbox of concepts that will be useful to a wide range of social scientists, as well as those working in public policy, management, or associational life and, beyond, to any reader who is interested in understanding the dynamics of social life.

Harrison C. White is the Giddings Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. His books include Markets from Networks: Socioeconomic Models of Production (Princeton) and Careers and Creativity: Social Forces in the Arts.

Reviews:

Praise for the original edition: "[In this book] White has managed to cram a lifetime of singularly deep thinking about the social order that makes the best start yet on augmenting the economic understanding of man."--David Warsh, Boston Globe

Praise for the original edition: "This work is unique in that it presents a fully formed structural theory of human behavior and organization from the ground up, including seminal terms and the directions in which future research should proceed."--C. A. Pressler, Choice

Praise for the original edition: "[This book] deserves to be widely read and discussed. White attempts nothing less than a comprehensive theoretical synthesis of social scientific ideas."--John Scott, British Journal of Sociology

Table of Contents:

DETAILED CONTENTS vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv
PROLOGUE: Preview of Themes xvii
CHAPTER ONE: Identities Seek Control 1
Contributors: Anna Mitschele and Frederic Godart
CHAPTER TWO: Networks and Stories 20
Contributors: Haiko Lietz and Sabine Wuerkner
CHAPTER THREE: Three Disciplines 63
Contributors: Rozlyn Redd and Don Steiny
CHAPTER FOUR: Styles 112
Contributors: Frederic Godart and Larissa Buchholz
CHAPTER FIVE: Institutions and Rhetorics 171
Contributors: Victor Corona and Matthias Thiemann
CHAPTER SIX: Regimes of Control 220
Contributors: Matthias Thiemann and Millie Su
CHAPTER SEVEN: Getting Action 279
Contributors: Larissa Buchholz and Haiko Lietz
CHAPTER EIGHT: Overview and Contexts 334
Contributors: Frederic Godart and Victor Corona
REFERENCES 377
CHAPTER INDEX 419

Another Princeton book by Harrison C. White:

• Markets from Networks: Socioeconomic Models of Production.

Subject Area:

• Sociology

Shopping Cart:

For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $29.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-13715-5
Cloth: $72.00 ISBN13: 978-0-691-13714-8

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Paper: £20.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-13715-5
Cloth: £49.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-13714-8

Prices subject to change without notice

File created: 6/4/2009

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