دانلود کتاب Sociology

This ninth edition of Sociology is unique – the irst to be inalized while
the world is in the midst of a global health pandemic, as we write this
Preface in late-November 2020. Many countries, including the UK, still
have an unprecedented number of restrictions in place as governments
try to control the spread of a novel coronavirus and the disease it
causes, labelled as Covid-19. We hope that, at the time you read this, the
worst of the pandemic has passed and something approaching ‘normal
life’ has returned. No doubt sociologists and many others will already
be making their contribution to learning the lessons from this globally
disruptive crisis.
The rapid spread of Covid-19 across the world is an illustration of the
global interconnectedness of the human world. Before the pandemic
there were, on average, 176,000 lights every day carrying more than 4
billion people per year to every continent on Earth, for business, work,
migration, tourism and family visits. There is no global government, but
today’s world certainly feels smaller and more accessible, and it is
increasingly experienced as one single human community. The
optimistic advice to all new graduates, ‘the world’s your oyster’,
becomes more accurate every year.
Yet such fabulous opportunities do not come risk-free. The aviation
industry contributes to global warming and uses huge amounts of nonsustainable fossil fuels at a time when global warming is widely
accepted as the most serious threat to the long-term future of human
societies. How do we balance the opportunities and risks inherent in
our love of and need for international travel? Aviation is just one
example of the ‘high-risk, high-opportunity’ world that human beings
have created. Similarly, we are in the midst of an ongoing digital
revolution that connects people together systematically and
continuously, offering unprecedented opportunities for communication
and networking. But, at the same time, the digital environment brings
new possibilities for tracking, surveillance and data gathering that
states and corporations use to delve ever deeper into the lives and lifestyles of individuals. Should we accept that forfeiting privacy is
necessary in order to reap the beneits of the digital age? Sociological
research and theorizing can help us all to think through these
questions.
Sociology demands that we learn to set aside our personal beliefs and
opinions during our work. In this way, learning how to ‘think
sociologically’ is a profound intellectual and emotional challenge that
can be unsettling, though most students and professional sociologists
say they have been changed, for the better, by the experience. The
discipline also forces us to look beyond the immediate context of our
individual lives to see our society in a new light, as we reach a deeper
understanding of the causes and consequences of our own, and other
people’s, actions. It also takes us into the ways of life in very different
societies, broadening our understanding of the human experience
around the world. We invite you to take the irst steps on that journey.