The Shape of Sociology for the 21st Century: Tradition and Renewal (SAGE Studies in International Sociology)

This critical volume explores the meaning of sociology and sociological knowledge in light of the recent growth and institutionalization of the discipline. A stellar group of international authors powerfully identify, question, and transform key assumptions in sociology. Leading us through the challenges faced by sociology, and the possible strategies for addressing them in the future, the book includes discussion of key issues such as: globalization; development; social policy; and inequality. COVER......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 11 About the Contributors......Page 13 1. Introduction: The Foreseeable Future of Sociology......Page 18 PART I: Theorizing Sociology: From Past to Future......Page 28 2. Recent Changes in Sociology......Page 30 3. On Inter-human Space: Toward a Third Sociology......Page 43 4. From Modernity to Globality: The Route within Sociology......Page 59 5. Integrating the Analysis of Complex Inequalities and Globalization into the Heart of Social Theory Using Complexity Theory......Page 78 PART II: Sociology and Social Change......Page 98 6. Beyond Three Constitutive Beliefs of Classical Sociology: Globalization, Postmodernity and Reflexivity......Page 100 7. The Shape of Sociology: Looking at the History of Our Present......Page 117 8. Dimensions of World Making: Thoughts from the Caspian Sea......Page 130 PART III: Focus on Concepts......Page 152 9. Identity in the Global Age: Hegemony, Resistance and Social Transformation......Page 154 10. Community as Social Metaphor:The Need for a Genealogy of Social Collectivities......Page 171 11. Professions and Professionalism: Perspectives from the Sociology of Professional Groups......Page 188 PART IV: Unconscious and Conscious Differentiation in Sociology......Page 202 12. Sociology’s Narratives of Global Change: History, Place and Formations of Knowledge in the Discipline’s Past and Future......Page 204 13. A Plea for a More Interpretive, More Empirical and More Historical Sociology......Page 219 14. Post-Soviet Sociology as a Pattern of ‘Another Sociology'......Page 235 PART V: Unresolved Challenges......Page 256 15. Including Sociological Practice: A Global Perspective and the US Case......Page 258 16. A Cultural Transformation: The Design of Alienation in the Guise of Creativity......Page 271 17. ‘Bystander Sociology’ and the Sonderbehandlung of the Social......Page 284 18. Precarious Disciplinary Intersections and Inconvenient Truths: Sociology in Search......Page 298 19. Policy-driven Research, Audit Culture and Power: Transforming Sociological Practices in the Philippines and Asia......Page 314 PART VI: Looking Ahead......Page 330 20. Sociology in the 21st Century: Embracing Complexity, Diversity and a Global Perspective......Page 332 Index......Page 349 "This is an important and thought-provoking collection of contemporary articles on the current crisis in social theory." - Professor Roger Penn , Lancaster University "With a comprehensive vision, great sociologists from around the world address the challenges of the new century." - Professor Michael Burawoy , University of California, Berkeley Over the past century, the field of sociology has experienced extraordinary expansion and vitality. But is this growth positive or negative - a promise of diversity or a threat of fragmentation? This critical volume explores the meaning of sociology and sociological knowledge in light of the recent growth and institutionalization of the discipline. A stellar group of international authors powerfully identify, question, and transform key assumptions in sociology. Leading us through the challenges faced by sociology, and the possible strategies for addressing them in the future, the book includes key issues such as: globalization development social policy inequality. An important companion for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers engaged with contemporary sociological theory, sociology of knowledge and sociological analysis. The latest edited title published in association with the ISA. Twenty chapters from a very strong group of international authors identify, question and transform key assumptions within modern sociology.