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National and Global Sociology I
Language: English
The nineteenth- and twentieth-century expansion of science went along with a ‘nationalisation’ of science, with the use of national vernaculars (instead of Latin) and the genesis of national scholarly communities. Sociology, as one of many academic disciplines, established itself in different ways in different national contexts in the last two centuries.
At present, globalization processes have become more important. It would be unjustified to argue that the national level will soon become (or already is) a non-existent entity in the ‘world’ of science. In a range of respects, the social relevance of the national level has probably augmented in recent times. The dependence of scientific research on state finance has not decreased since WWII, while governments have also searched for new ways to increase their influence upon the academic world. Perhaps, however, the increasingly global networks of scientific collaboration and communication will soon make it increasingly difficult to discern distinctive national traditions in disciplines, such as sociology.
For this session, we invite papers that focus on the changing ‘geography’ of scholarly communities, particularly in the field of sociology. Papers may focus on the trajectories of national communities, of international collaborations, or on the globalization of the discipline and the characteristics of a global sociology. Of interest and relevance in this setting is also the rise of professional associations and journals with a ‘regional’ or global focus – such as the European Sociological Association or the International Sociological Association and their respective journals.