Sociology on the Internet

Welcome to the Blackwell Sociology Resources. The links on these pages are collected and reviewed by James Slevin, honorary professor at the Department of Communication, Journalism and Computer Science, Roskilde University (Denmark) and author of The Internet and Society (2000, Polity Press). 

What is Sociology?

Sociology is the study of social life, groups and modern societies. Communication and information technologies such as the internet are central to both the existence of modern societies and to our understanding of them.

Today, the internet is opening up many new opportunities for sociology as a field of study. First, the internet itself deserves investigation as part of the complex subject matter of sociology. In a profound way, the development of the internet is going hand in hand with changes that are taking place in who we are, what we do, and the way we do things together. Second, the internet is helping us to transform the way we reflect on our social world, the way we understand it, and the way in which we might intervene in it. The internet is creating new possibilities for collecting, storing and distributing information, and for participating in sociological debate.

About this site

The sociological resources available on the internet are extremely wide in scope. They range from websites giving factual information about social issues on the one hand to newsgroups debating theoretical questions on the other. As such, the internet can seem a rather daunting 'place'. Many people feel overwhelmed when they are confronted with the vast amounts of information accessible to them or find it difficult to choose between the many options it creates for communication. The central aim of this website is to help make finding sociology on the internet easy. This might mean helping you to find information you need, helping you to link up with others, or helping you to participate in debates. 

The site is constructed around a number of themes:

• Globalization, Communication and Society
• The Individual and Social Life
• Modern Organizations
• The Family
• Democracy
• Tradition and Social Change
• Social Theory
• Sociological Research    

I shall attempt to keep the information up-to-date, to improve it over time, and to respond to your requests and suggestions.

James Slevin, Amsterdam, 2004