Challenges of a Global Sociology: Centers and Peripheries in the Geo-politics of Sociological Theory

Debate about the possibility of building a global sociology has gained increasing importance in recent years. In dialogue with works that argue in favor of post-national sociologies as well as literature that criticizes the hegemony of the theories formulated in the so-called centers, this articles aims on reflecting the idea of global sociology. The main sustained theoretical hypothesis is that the national experiences must be understood as bearing the potential of making important contributions to stimulate the theoretical discussion about sociological theories and concepts formulated in the centers. By mobilizing some sociological concepts such as public sphere and right to the city, originally formulated in centers, we suggest that peripheral sociologies could contribute to broaden theoretical formulations. In this sense, the theoretical construction of sociological theory must involve an equal dialogue between sociologists from the center and the periphery in order to construct a global sociology.