5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Although often forgotten today, monarchies used to be a legitimate object of analysis in political and comparative sociology. Scholars agreed that monarchical rule introduced unique logics and characteristics in broader processes of state-making, development, and social movements. Scholars took issue with the common understanding of monarchies as “traditional” and unchanging, highlighting instead the active role that monarchs and royal courts play in brokering relations, designing policies, and developing institutions. These legacies were not easily undone, not even in “post-monarchical" states where dynastic rule was replaced by republicanism. Many people in the world today live with the legacies and realities of monarchical rule and state-making.

This panel seeks to shed fresh light on these older debates, inviting comparative and case-specific contributions on facets of monarchical rule and state-making. It provides space for new research on the origins, characteristics, and outcomes of monarchical regimes and institutions in fields including politics, organizations, welfare, social movements, the environment, labor, and the economy. Its interests are broad, but some general questions may involve: How do kings shape political processes? What is particular about monarchical rule, authoritarianism, or capitalism? How does the royal court connect to questions of agency and structure ? How do institutions developed in monarchical eras persist in post-monarchical periods, and why do post-monarchical governments often find it hard to reform them?