Full Description
How can sociological thinking help us make sense of today's biggest global challenges? Climate change, migration, radicalisation and inequality dominate headlines and shape everyday life, yet the insights of sociology are often absent from public debate—drowned out by technological optimism, economic rhetoric or polarising politics.
This accessible, jargon-free textbook brings the sociological voice to the forefront. It demonstrates how evidence-based, critical perspectives can illuminate the causes, interconnections and possible solutions to some of the most urgent issues of our time.
Each chapter is crafted to support students new to sociology, offering tools to think critically and make connections between complex global problems. Key pedagogical and distinctive features include:
· Clear statements of key messages at the start of each chapter;
· Bold-highlighted definitions of sociological terms with minimal jargon;
· 'Snapshot' boxes with data, case studies or visual insights;
· Suggested sources for further exploration, including videos and online media.
Essential reading for undergraduate students and anyone working in policy, advocacy or social change—offering the tools to think critically, act thoughtfully and engage with today's most pressing global challenges.
Contents
Editors' Preface - Kevin Gillan and Vanessa May
Foreword - Gary Younge
Part 1: Setting the Scene
1. Making Sense of Global Social Challenges - Kevin Gillan and Vanessa May
2. Decolonization - Meghan Tinsley
Part 2: Trends and Challenges
3. Economic Inequalities - Kevin Gillan
4. A Sociological Perspective on the Climate and Ecological Crisis - Richie Nimmo
5. The Global Waste Crisis - Helen Holmes
6. The Next Pandemic - Elisa Pieri
7. Technology and Labour - Barbora Černušáková and Isha Bhallamudi
Part 3: Rethinking Social Categories
8. Racialized Injustice - Bridget Byrne and Siobhan O'Neill
9. Gender and Anti-Gender - Briony Hannell
10. Seeing Migration Differently - Vanessa May, Anna Simola and Sirpa Wrede
11. Rethinking Ageing in a Global World - Patty Doran, Tine Buffel, and Chris Phillipson
12. Radicalization into Terrorism, - Hilary Pilkington
Part 4: Ways Forward
13. Social Movements and Social Change - Josh Bunting
14. The Values of Sociology for Public Debate - Kevin Gillan and Vanessa May
