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This ninth edition of Sociology is unique – the first to be finalized while the world is in the midst of a global health pandemic, as we write this Preface in late-November 2020. Many countries, including the UK, still have an unprecedented number of restrictions in place as governments try to control the spread of a novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, labelled as Covid-19. We hope that, at the time you read this, the worst of the pandemic has passed and something approaching ‘normal life’ has returned. No doubt sociologists and many others will already be making their contribution to learning the lessons from this globally disruptive crisis.

The rapid spread of Covid-19 across the world is an illustration of the global interconnectedness of the human world. Before the pandemic there were, on average, 176,000 flights every day carrying more than 4 billion people per year to every continent on Earth, for business, work, migration, tourism and family visits. There is no global government, but today’s world certainly feels smaller and more accessible, and it is increasingly experienced as one single human community. The optimistic advice to all new graduates, ‘the world’s your oyster’, becomes more accurate every year.

Yet such fabulous opportunities do not come risk-free. The aviation industry contributes to global warming and uses huge amounts of non-sustainable fossil fuels at a time when global warming is widely accepted as the most serious threat to the long-term future of human societies. How do we balance the opportunities and risks inherent in our love of and need for international travel? Aviation is just one example of the ‘high-risk, high-opportunity’ world that human beings have created. Similarly, we are in the midst of an ongoing digital revolution that connects people together systematically and continuously, offering unprecedented opportunities for communication and networking. But, at the same time, the digital environment brings new possibilities for tracking, surveillance and data gathering that states and corporations use to delve ever deeper into the lives and lifestyles of individuals. Should we accept that forfeiting privacy is necessary in order to reap the benefits of the digital age? Sociological research and theorizing can help us all to think through these questions.

Sociology demands that we learn to set aside our personal beliefs and opinions during our work. In this way, learning how to ‘think sociologically’ is a profound intellectual and emotional challenge that can be unsettling, though most students and professional sociologists say they have been changed, for the better, by the experience. The discipline also forces us to look beyond the immediate context of our individual lives to see our society in a new light, as we reach a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of our own, and other people’s, actions. It also takes us into the ways of life in very different societies, broadening our understanding of the human experience around the world. We invite you to take the first steps on that journey.