Sociology for the 21st Century

The world is changing, so we are told. Huge advances in computers, communications, mobile devices, transport, building techniques are changing the way we interact, do business, build cities, and go about our daily lives. How do the theories that you have learnt about in your first two years at LSBU relate to these changes?
-Can we understand what?s happening to the world by applying those theories?
- Or do we need new theories?
-Some say the very way we think about knowledge has to change! What do they mean by this?
- Maybe the world isn?t really changing that much?
This Module aims to build on the theories and perspectives you have covered in your sociology modules so far, and to look at how these might be changing or applied in the 21st Century. We will explore the ways in which contemporary social theories have attempted to make sense of and explain recent transformations in social relations in everything from how we consume to how we work to how we do politics.
We shall focus, in particular, on the following key areas:
- the impact of ideas about postmodernity,
- patterns of social and economic change,
- processes of globalization,
? new social movements,
? popular consumption,
? gender and social theory,
? work and organisations,
? identity and difference,
? and postcolonial theory.