What is Sociology for?

When I first chose to study A-Level Sociology a few years ago now, some of my friends and relatives asked me why I would chose to study the subject over something more familiar like Biology or English Literature, subjects that had done fairly well at in my GCSEs.

Without going into too much detail of my own academic past, I chose to study A-Level Sociology as it was different, something new, and looking back now, it engaged my brain in a way that other subjects didn't, or hadn't before. I can imagine that other students who are currently studying sociology, have studied it, or who are thinking about studying it, may also be the type of person that regularly questions the 'the way things are.'

I came across this article via the British Sociological Association website and it fits in well with this idea of the purpose of sociology, what big questions we may have of ourselves and our role in society, and what value does the subject add to our understanding of the complexities of everyday life, and in this article's case - how might have capitalism and globalisation created conditions for the COVID-19 pandemic.