Are men and women really that different? Why are some people super-rich when others are homeless? Why do some people commit crimes? These are some of the questions at the heart of life as a human being and if you have asked questions like these, then you are already a budding sociologist. sociology is the study of society but it is also a fresh way of thinking about the world.
Sociologists, the people who study sociology, are interested in the ways in which individuals, groups, and societies are shaped and how they interact with each other. They look at how social institutions such as the family, the education system, religions, and governments work, and consider the ways in which they impact on people’s lives.
Sociology emerged at the end of the 18th century, when large parts of the world were changing rapidly because of increasing industrialization. German philosopher, Karl Marx, and other thinkers of the time, were concerned with the growing inequality they saw. They wanted to understand what was happening and the effect it was having on people and societies. Sociology is a social science that uses a range of methods to investigate the social world. Using evidence and logic, it develops and tests theories such as Marxism and feminism, which can help this process. To be a sociologist also requires what US sociologist Charles Wright Mills called the “Sociological Imagination” – the ability to challenge common sense ideas about the world and to ask new questions. For instance, we might ask “Why do we have problems like racism and homophobia?” or “Does the news tell the truth?”
Most importantly, sociology offers the possibility of understanding our lives more fully and of making them better. As Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman said, the purpose of sociology is “to come to the help of the individual”.
