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Varieties of Sociological Comparatism
Varieties of Sociological Comparatism
Abstract Submissions Closed
Friday, 26 February 2021: 14:15-15:45
Location:
RC35 Conceptual and Terminological Analysis (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
The comparative mode of sociological intelligibility goes back to the founders of the discipline, in particular to Weber’s sociology of religion. Comparative analysis, in its demanding version, involves not only the confrontation of experiences in a given domain of reality – religion, political system, economy, etc. – but the entire history of the social formations in question. In this sense, it consists in a complex strategy that requires considerable intellectual investment, as demonstrated by Weber’s endeavors: the genesis of religions is entangled in processes of differentiation leading to a certain social hierarchy as well as to the emergence of a body of specialized religious agents. Delving into social diversity takes its toll in terms of data collection, respect for native categories and the unavoidable limits of one's own comparative stance. There can, however, be alternative paths to comparatism as long as the focus is somehow narrowed down. Instead of adhering to an ill-founded or insufficiently substantiated comparatism, one might envision projects of comparative explanation concentrated on social formations which have developed under similar historical circumstances, as in comparative researches on European (Charles Tilly), Latin American (Tulio Dongui), or Asian (Benedict Anderson) countries whose morphological peculiarities do not prevent the contrast between certain domains of practice (e.g., the transformations of economic or intellectual activity, or of national identity). Furthermore, it is necessary to expand the comparative scope by giving voice to sociological endeavors of transnational nature, even if the cases under consideration do not fit the parameters of Weber-inspired comparative analysis.
Session Organizer: