This book examines key trends, debates, and challenges in twenty-first-century sociology. To this end, it focuses on significant issues surrounding the nature of sociology ('What is sociology?'), the history of sociology ('How has sociology evolved?'), and the study of sociology ('How can or should we make sense of sociology?').

These issues have been, and will continue to be, essential to the creation of conceptually informed, methodologically rigorous, and empirically substantiated research programmes in the discipline. Over the past years, however, there have been numerous disputes and controversies concerning the future of sociology. Particularly important in this respect are recent and ongoing discussions on the possibilities of developing new - and, arguably, post-classical - forms of sociology. The central assumption underlying most of these projects is the contention that a comprehensive analysis of the principal challenges faced by global society requires the construction of a sociology capable of accounting for the interconnectedness of social actors and social structures across time and space.

This book provides a cutting-edge overview of crucial past, present, and possible future trends, debates, and challenges shaping the pursuit of sociological inquiry.

'Simon Susen - one of the most knowledgeable scholars in the contemporary social sciences - examines the key challenges with which sociology is confronted today. This book is a must-read for professional sociologists as well as for those studying the subject.' - Luc Boltanski,