The author argues for sociology as a professional study of industrialised societies, as distinct from advocacy for social problems, and upholds the idea that it is possible without falling into a meaningless relativism. ( )

Drawing on studies of social class, crime and deviance, work in bureaucracies, and changes in religious and political organizations, this Very Short Introduction explores the tension between the individual's role in society and society's role in shaping the individual, and demonstrates the value of sociology as a perspective for understanding the modern world.