Sociology Beyond Societies: Mobilities for the Twenty-First Century (International Library of Sociology)

by John Urry

Do societies still exist? How should sociology adapt after globalization? This book extends the recent debate about globalisation from the sociological perspective.

Genres: Sociology

Paperback

First published November 25, 1999

Reviews

[Waris Ahmad Faizi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Innovative!

This book by John Urry challenges traditional sociology’s focus on stable, bounded societies by emphasizing the importance of flows, networks, and mobility in the contemporary world. John Urry argues that modern social life is increasingly shaped by the movement of people, goods, information, images, and capital across borders, making nation-centered models of society inadequate. By introducing the “mobilities paradigm,” the book encourages sociologists to analyze globalization, technology, and social relations through patterns of circulation and connectivity rather than fixed structures.

Urry also highlights how mobility transforms our experience of time. In a world of rapid transportation, digital communication, and global networks, social life becomes increasingly organized around acceleration, simultaneity, and real-time coordination. Time is no longer simply sequential or locally structured; instead, it is compressed and synchronized across distant places. This shift reshapes everyday routines, work rhythms, and social expectations, making temporal flexibility and speed central features of contemporary life.