Structural Challenges of Teaching and Researching Sociology In Southern Nations

Sociological research and teaching in the Global South face structural challenges distinct from those in the Global North. Major crises include (1) curriculum and theory dependence: most sociology textbooks and theories are still US- or Euro- centric; (2) resource scarcity: overcrowded classrooms, inadequate IT facilities, limited research funds, and fewer journals portray the picture of a typical Southern context; (3) problem-solving vs. critical sociology: pressures from universities and funders force sociology programs to solve immediate social problems, such as health, labor, and poverty; which, in turn, limits the scope for basic theory and long-term research; (4) language paradox: publishing in English reaches wider global audience, but many local students and people remain ignorant; in contrast, publishing in local (non-English) languages reaches the local audience and thus holds “local impacts” but remains “globally invisible” and hence lacks appropriate recognition; and finally (5) employability crisis: sociology programs do not/cannot produce “marketable products” (i.e., employable graduates) as per neoliberal requirements.

On the contrary, these limits have also given rise to a few ingenious responses — decolonial syllabi, community-based research, public sociology in local languages, and new journals from the South.

This session invites conceptual and empirical papers that address the aforementioned issues and other relevant questions concerning sociological teaching and research in the Global South.