Recent Articles
Quiet Neurodivergence, Spoons, and the Sociology of Invisible Struggle
This article develops quiet neurodivergence as a way of naming how some neurodivergent people appear to cope in education, work and civic life while absorbing hidden costs in masking, energy use and burnout. Drawing on…
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Is Durkheim Still Relevant? Social Facts, Solidarity and Culture Wars
Durkheim never saw a social media pile-on, but he worried about what holds societies together and how they draw moral boundaries. This article introduces his ideas on social facts, solidarity, crime and anomie, and uses…
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Is Weber Still Relevant? Rationalisation, Bureaucracy and Algorithmic Power
Weber wrote about files and offices, not welfare portals, tickets and AI chatbots. Yet his ideas on rationalisation, bureaucracy and legal-rational authority still help make sense of why “the system” feels both neutral and overwhelming.…
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Trading Places and the Myth of Meritocracy: A Sociological Analysis of Class, Race, and Capital
Watching Trading Places as a Christmas comfort film, it is hard not to see a ready-made sociological case study. The Dukes’ “experiment” looks like a simple nature-versus-nurture wager, but the life swap really turns on…
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Is Marx Still Relevant? Marxism, Class and the Gig Economy
Marx wrote about factories and nineteenth-century class conflict, not delivery apps or algorithmic ratings. So how far can his ideas take us today? This article introduces Marx’s core concepts and tests them against platform capitalism…
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Symbolic Violence in Schools: How Class Inequality Hides in Plain Sight
What if the rules that govern school life aren’t neutral? This article explores how symbolic violence—subtle norms and expectations—rewards middle-class students while sidelining others.
Read moreRecent ‘Explained’ Articles
Why Does Where You Live Affect Your Opportunities?
Where you live can shape access to education, work, housing, transport and public services. This article explores how place becomes part of social inequality and why opportunity is unevenly distributed across different areas.
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What Makes Something Deviant?
What makes behaviour deviant, and who gets to decide? This article explores social norms, labelling, stigma, power and why definitions of deviance change across time, place and social groups.
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Why Do People Obey Rules Nobody Actually Enforces?
Why do people follow unwritten rules even when nobody is watching? This article explores social norms, sanctions, socialisation, embarrassment, belonging and the everyday processes that keep social life orderly.
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What Counts as a Family?
Families can take many forms, and what counts as a family has changed across time and place. This article explores family diversity, socialisation, gender, domestic labour and the social forces that shape family life.
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What Do Sociologists Mean by Social Class?
Social class is about more than income. This article explores how Marx, Weber and Bourdieu help us understand class, life chances, cultural capital, social mobility and the unequal distribution of opportunity.
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Where Do Our Ideas About ‘Normal’ Come From?
What feels normal is often something we have learned. This article explores how norms, values, socialisation and power shape our ideas about acceptable behaviour, and why ‘normal’ changes across time and place.
Read moreThinking Sociologically explores class, power, and everyday life through a critical lens — with practical tools for reading the social world.
