Social transitions in Maltese society

Abstract

Very often students at the Department of Sociology, University of Malta, ask me why I have taken up the study of Sociology. They ask me the usefulness of such an academic subject in explaining everyday life. Interestingly enough I did pose the same questions a good number of years ago when I met Prof. M.N. Srinivas, the doyen of Indian Sociology, the day I joined the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, to read for my Master degree in this subject. A good many a year has passed since then and I can clearly say that the study of Sociology has helped me to understand better the world's different cultures, societies and social systems with which I had the opportunity to come face to face. How true were those words of the late Prof. Srinivas, "no man is an island" and "the world is one village, a unity in diversity". Human beings have always had an intense fascination with the world around them. Most of all they have been fascinated and entranced with other human beings. In this regard, the study of Sociology has been instrumental in our understanding of human interactions, even the most intimate. It explores the ways in which human beings have creatively adopted and adapted themselves to new social and cultural lives. It teaches us how, as in the initiation ceremonies of many tribal and primitive societies, the young boys and girls become members of their social groups, what we today call the socialization of citizens into their cultural and social systems. It helps us to understand better how, as Talcott Parsons clearly explains, an individual builds up his/her personality system. Sociology is the scientific expression of humanity's curiosity about how other people live in other places and at other times, but also how we live here and now. According to Max Weber, the aim of Sociology is to interpret or understand social behaviour. Sociology is concerned with the analysis and classification of social relationships. [excerpt]