Sociology and Its Role in Post-Socialist Transformations: Towards a Critical Analysis

The role of sociology in the communist countries of Eastern Europe, its institutional development, specifics of national sociological traditions, its often controversial and ambiguous relationship with the political system, and (limited) debates with the international sociological community were the subject of extensive sociological research. We also have relatively good overview of the state of development of sociology and its institutional conditions in post-socialist Eastern Europe. However, the role of sociology in the processes of post-socialist transitions remains curiously under-researched, if not completely overlooked and we have relatively little structured and reliable information about the role of sociology in post-socialist transformations. Hence, we try to shed some light, analyzing both the role of sociology as a science and specific expertise, as well as the impact of individual sociologists through their different roles.

We adopt the Cultural Political Economy approach to post-socialist transformations and explore the role that sociology played in this process. First, we will explore the contribution of sociology to processes of variation of discourses and practices, which may lead to a variety of alternative paths. Second, we will scrutinize selection of particular discourses, a process in which sociology could play a role by privileging and interpreting some of them, e.g. by providing legitimization through interpretation of specific phenomena. Third, sociology can contribute to retention of specific resonant discourses, a process in which discourses and practices are included in individual and collective routines and identities, in widely accepted strategies, state projects and are even materialized in physical environment.

Analysis is based on 18 national case studies of Eastern European countries. Recent developments in Eastern Europe – notable shift towards nationalism and less democratic forms of governance – imply increased role that sociology may play in reflecting and moderating these processes, so the knowledge about specific mechanisms is of vital importance.