The Genealogy of Korean Sociology: Knowledge Regime Shift and Intellectual Transformation

The history of Korean sociology is not merely a story of disciplinary development. Rather, it can be understood as a succession of knowledge regimes characterized by the sequence of “Japanese colonial knowledge regime (1910∽1945)→ American Cold War knowledge regime (1945∽1990)→ Global neoliberal knowledge regime (1990∽2020)→ AI-driven digital knowledge regime (2020∽present).” The institutionalization of sociology in the post-colonial Korea took place within the Cold War geopolitical context and American Cold War knowledge regime. Through successive experiences of democratization, the end of the Cold War, globalization, digital transformation, and recently the AI transition, Korean sociology has increasingly moved beyond its earlier American-centered orientation and entered a phase of more autonomous and original knowledge production.

Since the early twenty-first century, Korean sociology has increasingly addressed issues such as globalization, neoliberalism, digital society, platform capitalism, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic governance etc. At the same time, growing attention has been paid to Postcolonial sociology, East Asian sociology, Global South sociology, and the de-Americanization of knowledge production. These developments reflect broader efforts to transcend intellectual dependency and to construct alternative sociological perspectives rooted in Korean and East Asian experiences while engaging with global concerns.

We welcome sociologists from across the globe who are interested in the history of Korean sociology and its place within broader intellectual and institutional developments. The session seeks to foster comparative discussions on the distinctive trajectories of sociological development in different national contexts, examining both shared patterns and unique historical experiences in the formation of sociological traditions.