Cover of Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life

New textbook connects consumer culture to sociological concepts

Megan Easton

After reading an innovative new sociology textbook by two UTM professors, students will never order a coffee the same way again. Whether they’re Tim Hortons or Starbucks devotees, and whether they like it foamy and sweet or basic and black, they’ll know that broad social structures shape their individual choices.

Introducing Sociology Using the Stuff of Everyday Life – stuff like coffee, jeans, smartphones and beauty products – teaches the discipline’s core concepts by exploring the social processes surrounding today’s consumer culture. Co-authored by Josée Johnston and Shyon Baumann of UTM’s Department of Sociology, along with Kate Cairns of Rutgers University-Camden, its thematic focus aims to be more meaningful and relevant to students than traditional textbooks.

“We wanted to move away from listing things that people should know about sociology – which is what many textbooks do – and instead provide students with a set of tools that they can use,” says Baumann, whose research examines the sociology of the media, culture and the arts, as well as the sociology of food. The book teaches the practice of sociological thinking using case studies from consumer culture, connecting things that are familiar to students with key concepts, methods and theories.

In the textbook’s chapter on coffee, for example, the authors demonstrate how people’s preferences are socially patterned. “By unpacking why students like or don’t like coffee, or why they have loyalty to certain coffee brands, we show them how their everyday habits are influenced by forces bigger than themselves, like class and gender. We also talk about the material elements of coffee culture – how did the coffee get to us in the first place – which leads us to issues of global inequality and labour exploitation,” says Johnston, whose research focuses on the sociology of food and consumer culture. She and Baumann are frequent collaborators on food-related studies, including the 2015 book Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape.

In addition to the new textbook’s unique style and structure, it is relatively short, affordable and features compelling graphics. “The visuals aren’t just there because we needed images,” says Johnston. “They reinforce just how topical, controversial and culturally relevant the case studies are.”

When Baumann and Johnston began writing the book in 2014, they knew that not all professors would accept their reimagining of introductory sociology. But they were confident that there was significant demand for a text that would resonate better with today’s students. Various reviewers have praised the authors for their “gift for storytelling,” “truly compelling chapters,” and “exciting, creative contribution to the same-old, same-old landscape of introductory sociology texts.”

By offering new insight into areas of consumer culture where students feel informed and even authoritative, the authors’ intent was also to create a more equitable classroom dynamic. “If you have a textbook that simply presents a stock of unfamiliar information, students see it as something they can just read on their own,” says Baumann. “But if it’s built on topics they can relate to, they’ll be more likely to come to class and contribute.”

Though the book only hit the shelves in January, both Baumann and Johnston have used early versions of several chapters in their teaching, and the response from students exceeded their expectations. “I can’t overexpress how much they have to say about these commodities,” says Johnston. “I use this approach because it’s an effective teaching tool, but I also do it because it breaks down some of the professor-student barrier. They see that I’m learning just as much from them as they’re learning from me.”