2026, The Economist
Why recent attacks on Sociology as left-wing activism are misplaced. Describing my own research and how I teach Introduction to Sociology, I argue that the study of inequality (our focus) is shared by all the social sciences: we differ mainly in how we use that information in ways that may “afflict the comfortable.” There is no ideology with which to “indoctrinate” students: just a set of analytical tools informed by theory, designed to impart critical thinking skills to develop original problem-solving.
Keywords: sociology, economic sociology, offshore finance, democracy, secrecy, bureaucracy, professions