Reading the World: An Introduction helps students see that the normal, familiar aspects of their everyday life frequently have unexpected and startling dimensions. Students learn to uncover layers of meaning that are often hard to discern in things, choices, and events in the world around them. Reading the World helps students understand how and why the familiar can be deceptive.

Reading the World introduces students to the social forces that structure life in modern society and that are nevertheless hard to spontaneously identify. It outlines the ways in which these forces affect the ideas, identities, and life courses of individuals and groups.

Through the exploration of topics such as the social construction of reality, deviance, the sociology of the body, and the sociology of race Reading the World encourages literacy about society and power. Reading the World is designed for courses in the social sciences, particularly those that emphasize critique and analysis of ideology including introductory courses in sociology, social psychology, and social theory.