Theme:

Throughout its history the ISA and its journals have generated debate about and aspirations for an “international” sociology – debates about modernization and dependency theory, globalization and the information society, which, in turn, have spawned support for indigenization, Khaldunian sociology, subaltern studies, and Southern sociology. In the end what has emerged has been diverse sociologies with national roots, sometimes with universalistic ambitions. At the same time such national sociologies have operated within an unequal, and, many would say, increasingly unequal global terrain. Behind claims of universalism have stood the concentration of research, journals, publishing ventures, graduate training and linguistic monopolies, underpinned by skewed patterns of cross-referencing and professional mobility, all embedded in patterns of world economic, political and military domination. Nation states have not been innocent in this but have often participated in producing this unequal terrain with endorsements of “international evaluation” of academics, close regulation or even closure of universities, and the demand for immediately useful policy research. How have sociologists – not just in the South but in the North too -- responded to these challenges. A concrete examination and constructive evaluation of these responses is the purpose of this conference.