Sociologies beyond the centres: Histories, inequalities and futures

Abstract

Abstract

This article examines global sociology through national and regional traditions beyond Western Europe and North America, drawing on the contributions to this special issue on Latin America, India, mainland China, Central and Eastern Europe, the Arab region, Brazil, and South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that although sociology has become increasingly global, the authority to define central problems and formulate concepts with universal standing remains highly concentrated. Sociologies beyond the centres have not simply received Euro-American theories but have selected, translated, contested and transformed them. At the same time, the article cautions against idealising Southern, local or indigenous knowledge, which may reproduce internal hierarchies, nationalism or authoritarianism. It proposes a relational, multiscalar and dialogical global sociology aimed at challenging the division of intellectual labour between theory-producing centres and data-producing peripheries, while fostering multidirectional circulation, reciprocal critique and more equal conditions of theoretical production.