A guide to transformations in sociological thinking that provides a systematic assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of postmodernism for sociology. Postmodernism is presented as a stimulus for sociologists to reconsider some of their central tenets and practices.

INTRODUCTION The Postmodern Challenge to Sociology - David Owen CLASS Inequality after Class - Malcolm Waters GENDER Feminism, Postmodernism and the Sociology of Gender - Samantha Ashenden RACE AND ETHNICITY Racism and Postmodernism: Towards a Theory of Practice - Paul Connolly CRIMINOLOGY AND DEVIANCE Late-Modern Criminology - Nigel South `Late′ as in `Dead′ or `Modern′ as in `New′ LAW Law, Politics and the Social Sciences - Alan Hunt SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY The Sociology of Science and Technology after Relativism - Ralph Schroeder CULTURE AND MEDIA Social Theory and Cultural Studies - Douglas Kellner SEXUALITY Sex after `Sexuality′ - Arlene Stein From Sexology to Post-Structuralism AFFECTIVITY Somatology - Sean Watson and Peter Jowers Sociology and the Visceral MEDICINE AND THE BODY Body Amnesia - Comments on Corporeality - Thomas Osborne HISTORY AND POLITICS Sociology after Society - Mitchell Dean