You will learn how everyday experiences like health, gender, migration, data, and climate are shaped by history, power, inequality, and global connections. The examples below show the kinds of sociological questions and thinkers you will engage with on the degree.
- Understand knowledge, race, and class through scholars like Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui. An Indigenous Bolivian sociologist, Rivera Cusicanqui examines how colonial structures of domination continue to shape Indigenous identities, cultures, and ways of knowing. Reading suggestion:Ch’ixinakax utxiwa: On Decolonising Practices (2020, in translation).
- Analyse global systems through the work of Samir Amin. An Egyptian political economist, Amin showed how global capitalism systematically advantages some regions while marginalising others, challenging Eurocentric accounts of development. Reading suggestion: Eurocentrism (1989).
- Examine mobility, borders, and belonging through scholars such as Aihwa Ong. A Malaysian anthropologist and sociologist, Ong introduced the concept of “flexible citizenship” to explain how migration, labour, and belonging are shaped by global inequality. Reading suggestion: Flexible Citizenship (1999).
- Study health, care, and everyday life through the work of Veena Das. An Indian sociologist and anthropologist, Das focuses on how people live with illness, violence, and loss. Her work brings attention to care, suffering, and ethics as lived experiences rather than abstract policy problems. Reading suggestion: Life and Words (2007).
- Rethink gender and power with Raewyn Connell’s scholarship [Reading suggestion : Gender and Power (1987).] You would also encounter feminist and decolonial critiques of gender and social norms from scholars such as Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, Sylvia Tamale, and María Lugones.
- Engage critically with religion, agency, and freedom through the work of Saba Mahmood. A Pakistani‑born anthropologist and social theorist, Mahmood challenged liberal assumptions about what agency and emancipation look like, particularly in relation to gender and religious life. Reading suggestion: Politics of Piety (2005).
- Think critically about data, evidence, and methods through scholars such as Cal Biruk. A sociologist of global health and science, Biruk shows how data are produced through social practices, power relations, and ethical tensions. Reading suggestion: Cooking Data (2018)
- Examine technology, race, and the future through scholars like Ruha Benjamin. An American sociologist, Benjamin shows how technologies such as algorithms and AI can reproduce racial inequalities while appearing neutral or objective. Reading suggestion: Viral Justice (2022)
- Explore environment, risk, and modern society through thinkers such as Ulrich Beck. Beck’s idea of the risk society highlights how modern societies are increasingly organised around managing environmental, technological, and health risks, often in unequal ways. Reading suggestion: Risk Society (1992)
Together, these scholars show that studying sociology at King’s means learning to question what feels natural, connect everyday life to global histories, and understand how knowledge, power, race, class, and inequality shape the world.
Alongside this critical perspective, you will gain practical sociological skills, including qualitative research (interviews, ethnography) and quantitative analysis (data, statistics, social evidence). These skills prepare you to apply sociology in policy, research, advocacy, and professional settings.
For more information about Sociology BSc, check out the course page here