Self and Society

Most people feel that they know something about the social world in which they live. But Sociology is a distinctive way of knowing and it is this unique way of thinking and doing that we will explore in this introductory unit. We will gain a sense of the forms of thought and practice that are foundational to the discipline – the theories and methods that sociologists have developed to enable them to understand, and perhaps intervene in, the issues of their time. Approaching these histories critically will be a key objective of this introductory unit. How have the preoccupations, but also prejudices, of the sociological tradition translated into sociological theories and methods? Students will also leave with a sense of some of the pressing problems that animate sociologists today – from the impact of technology on human sociality, to the legacy of colonialism, the changing character of 'the social' and the urgent need to rethink our relationship to the environment.