Category Social Theory

Dive into classical and contemporary social theories. From Marx, Weber, and Durkheim to Foucault and Bourdieu, explore how sociologists interpret power, structure, and change in society.

Why Do We Believe What We Believe? Sociology, Knowledge, and the Crisis of Truth

Knowledge Is Power - Chernobyl after 40 Years

Forty years after Chernobyl, the reactor sits under a vast steel sarcophagus constructed to contain what could not be unseen. The facts eventually surfaced - but at what cost, and why did it take so long? Drawing on Mannheim, Fricker, Arendt, and Oreskes, this article asks what the sociology of knowledge reveals about the structural conditions under which truth is managed, suppressed, and contested - from Soviet nuclear cover-ups to contemporary populism.

Four Ways of Knowing in Sociology: Positivism, Interpretivism, Critical Realism and Pragmatism

Illustration divided into four panels around a central compass and globe, showing four ways of seeing the social world: quantitative measurement, shared meaning and ideas, hidden structures beneath the surface, and practical tools for building solutions.

Sociology is not just about what we study, but how we think we can know anything about the social world. This explainer introduces four major epistemological approaches – positivism, interpretivism, critical realism and pragmatism – and shows how each one answers basic questions about reality, knowledge and methods. Aimed at undergraduate sociology students, it offers a clear map of the terrain and helps you understand why different writers disagree about what counts as good evidence or explanation.

Is Durkheim Still Relevant? Social Facts, Solidarity and Culture Wars

Durkheim Explainer

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 them to analyse contemporary “culture wars” over statues, values and offence – and to show where his framework now needs updating.

Is Weber Still Relevant? Rationalisation, Bureaucracy and Algorithmic Power

Weber Contemporary Relevance

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. This article introduces Weber for undergraduates and tests his relevance against contemporary forms of algorithmic power.

Is Marx Still Relevant? Marxism, Class and the Gig Economy

Marx 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 and the gig economy, showing what still works, what does not, and where later theorists extend his framework.