BRITISH SOCIOLOGYvalues and human rights discourses, and Kevin
Bales’s (1999) study of economic globalization and
the development of modern slavery. These seem
to highlight some important issues to be debated
within sociology (worldwide) in this millennium.
The first century of British sociology saw its
ups and downs. At times it was a popular subject to
study and at other times it faced significant threats
to its existence. Probably there was no threat more
dramatic than the former Prime Minister Marga-
ret Thatcher’s declaration that, ‘‘There is no such
thing as society.’’ However, despite the attacks and
the loss of funding, sociology as a discipline has
managed not only to survive but is poised to lead
policy making in Britain. Currently there are in-
creasing numbers of Members of Parliament and
Lords who have a sociology background and there
are nearly a dozen Vice Chancellors of universities
who are sociologists. ‘‘Indeed, the subject some-
how seems in tune with the times. With a govern-
ment that not only accepts, but explicitly seeks to
understand, and manage society, it is surely no
coincidence that Tony Blair’s favourite academic,
Anthony Giddens... is another sociologist-cum-
VC (or Director as the position is called at the
London School of Economics)’’ (Brown 1999, p.
iii). The reference here is to Giddens’s latest con-
tribution to British sociology, his book entitled
The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy
(1998). In many ways sociology has come full
circle, with LSE academics once again playing an
important role in its resurgence. Despite all at-
tempts to deny its value, sociology in Britain can
once again try to fulfill the claim made a century
ago and an ocean away, that ‘‘Sociology has a
foremost place in the thought of modern men
[and women]’’ (Small 1895, p.1).
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