This unique and innovative text provides undergraduate students with tools to think sociologically through the lens of everyday life. Normative social organization and taken-for-granted beliefs and actions are exposed as key mechanisms of power and social inequality in Western societies today. By "unpacking the centre" students are encouraged to turn their social worlds inside out and explore alternatives to the dominant social order.

The second edition is divided into three parts. Part one teaches students how to use theory and methodology, which are blended seamlessly throughout the text. It shows how to position Michel Foucault and Karl Marx as companions to theorists such as Stuart Hall, while signalling the importance of non-Western and Indigenous knowledges, experiences, and rights. In part two, students explore—and challenge—normativity in relation to the body, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, class, aging, and citizenship. In part three, chapters critique everyday practices such as thinking scientifically, practising self-help, going shopping, managing money, buying coffee, talking about Indigeneity, and travelling as a tourist.

Each chapter includes thought-provoking exercises, study questions, and key terms that link to the volume’s comprehensive glossary. Instructors are provided PowerPoint slides, a test bank, and a list of online resources that make the book adaptable to online and blended learning environments.