Contemporary Social Issues and Applications of Sociology
Domain 10: Contemporary Social Issues and Applications of Sociology
This domain tests whether you can connect sociological concepts to current debates and use sociology beyond the classroom. Expect questions on globalisation, digital life, migration, climate change, inequality and public policy.
Core rules
- Globalisation is the increasing interdependence of economies and societies through trade, finance, media and migration. It is uneven: it can create jobs and also informalise labour and intensify inequality.
- Digital society reshapes identity, privacy, work and protest. Platforms create new forms of surveillance and peer socialisation; the digital divide follows class, gender, age and region.
- Migration - internal and international - affects households, gender roles, remittances and urban housing. Climate change produces displacement and livelihood crises that are socially distributed.
- Applied sociology uses concepts and evidence in policy, NGOs, health, education, corporate social responsibility, social impact assessment and programme evaluation. Public sociology communicates with wider audiences.
Worked example
A highway project displaces a village. A sociological assessment maps land rights, caste and gender divisions, livelihood dependence and compensation flows. It shows that aggregate compensation can hide unequal losses and that resettlement must address schools, health and social networks, not only cash.
Traps
Do not equate globalisation with simple homogenisation; local adaptation and resistance matter. Do not treat technology as neutral. Do not confuse applied sociology with activism or with common-sense consultancy. Do not ignore unintended consequences.