Sociology is the science of society, social institutions and social relationships. It could also be defined as the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behaviour of organised groups of human beings.
It was first defined in 1780 by the French essayist, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, in an unpublished manuscript. Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte, better known as Auguste Comte, is the father of Sociology, having coined the term in the 1838.
Comte himself defined Sociology to be the way to describe the society in a significant way. It was Émile Durkheim who institutionalised sociology as an academic discipline.
Earlier, it was like that the social sciences were not considered important. So, people preferred physical sciences over it. Now, with the advancement in technology and development all around the world, people are considering social sciences more prominent in the context.
The social sciences have developed on the basis of dealing with problems which lead to major crisis. Émile Durkheim gave his theory of “anomie”, which later on was considered as the precursor to crisis. Crisis means “a system (social, political or economic) which is not working well and is getting stuck and changing in an uncontrollable way.” Edgar Morin proposed for the development of “crisiology”. This revealed that a crisis had both revelation and effect.
Ulrich Beck had given the theory of “methodological nationalism”. He defined it to be “an intellectual orientation and pattern in scholarly research that conceives of the nation-state as the sole unit of analysis or as a container for social processes.” Andreas Wimmer and Nina Glick Schiller have done a lot of research on this topic as a challenge to sociology.
According to a famous Indian sociologist, global integration has promoted a free flow of ideas, information and knowledge. Paradoxically, it has also created intense conflicts and increased militarisation.
The International Sociological Association, in its 2009 meeting at Taipei, tried to understand the challenges to a global sociology. They considered Taiwan to be a place wherein no discrimination will take place and everyone would have the right to express their views.
Then, international relations came in the way. The Chinese Sociological Association, the main sociological body of mainland China, rejected the invitation to the meet. Their reason was that their government does not accept Taiwan to be a country on its own, but is a renegade province, a part of the mainland.
Many sociologists accepted the fact that newly independent countries, during the post-colonisation period, were unable to develop their own system of society and often related their views to their ex-colonial masters.
Michel Wieviorka, the then ISA President, said the present conflict in sociology was due to the “end of the actor”. In the context, this meant that the social institutions or the collective actors were no more, which could result in a social turmoil. This can be resolved only through the creation of new actors through social movements or rejuvenating the former ones.
The deepest inequalities in the field of sociology lies in language. Even the countries of South-East Asia and Middle East prefers English as their second language. English is now considered as the lingua franca, providing the English-speaking majority a domination in the world of sociology.
A Japanese sociologist, Takashi Machimura, argued that Japanese sociology was not well known in the world. Even though Japan has a strong educational base, everything about Japanese sociology has been learnt by the world through the eyes of the foreign sociologists.
Yoshimichi Sato, Machimura’s contemporary, believed that the Japanese language does not allow the simple explanation of concepts. They need to make their concepts easier for the foreign sociologists to understand.
In the world, it is very arduous for sociologists to live in developing or underdeveloped country. Consider the case of a sociologist in the Central African Republic. The sociologist would need to study about culture and societal values of the population, devoid of the economic and political situation.
Also, it has become very difficult for a sociologist to research alone in the world. Western academic credentials are considered important in order to understand a sociologist. Therefore, a person having a research bent-of-min with a diploma would not be able to have his dreams fulfilled.
In many parts of the world, commercialisation is slowly depleting the academic depth of sociology. Economic conditions often are the major effects but political conditions trump the latter in Egypt. During the Jasmine Revolution, this led to a considerable number of sociologists to abandon their habitats and leave for Europe.
In a study done by a famous female Egyptian sociologist, many philosophers had been considered as “the agents of social changes” and thus, kept in house arrest by the despot Hosni Mubarak, before the 2014 Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Hani Sanafi, a well-famous Palestinian sociologist, has seen that the present sociologists need Western education credentials in order to do a specific research. Also, in the Middle East, a lot of sociologists have been taken by the armed forces or the government for their personal use, due to which; no sociologist is ready to carry out some research on a private basis.
As Iran lurches between repression and reform, Mohammed Ghaneirad, an Iranian sociologist, believe they face a dilemma between Westernisation and Islamisation. If they favour Westernisation, they might be executed by the government and if they do the latter, then they would be considered as “primitive” in the global sociological stage.
Some countries which had a non-democratic government, favoured by Western powers, have their sociological perspectives deeply influenced by them. Their sociology, therefore, does remain unique. Also, if a country assists another newly formed country for a long time, the sociology of the region is influenced.
“Israeli sociology is the appendage of the American sociology.” The Occupied Territories are therefore unable to decipher their societal values. Overpowered by the Israeli armed forces, the researchers are incarcerated. Crucial academic work is not possible due to restrictions on internal and external travel.
In Africa, indigenous sociology has been facing a lot of problem from the post-colonialism period. The expatriate researchers were provided with enough support by their universities and the local educational bodies. The locals were not even considered as equal by the colonial people. There are less teachers available for students in the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level in African countries. Also, Sub-Saharan African countries have been bearing the brunt of not sufficiently understanding its sociology. That is the only reason for social conflicts there.
In Africa, all countries do not have their own sociological associations. Sociology is therefore referred to as a luxury there. Therefore, Ethiopia and many countries have combined sociology with different social sciences to make it easier to know. Incidentally, they do not have enough income in order to attend international summits, symposiums or colleges. They are not able to hold discussions with fellow African sociologists and are not able to complete their research papers.
Sociology in the Middle East has been recurrently referred to be in “the state of perpetual crisis”. Several sociologists think that Arab sociology is the copy-paste version of Western sociology. It has been arrested to translation and copying of earlier works. No one has that research rigour in order to do it.
Poland has been facing sociological problems from a very long time. Janusz Mocha, a famous Polish sociologist, revealed that national heritage has been losing out its importance in the present. It is believed by everyone that national heritage gains its zenith during democratic rule. The case of Poland has its opposite result.
Latin America has faced through military suppression and colonial discrimination. Using structural adjustment as their key tool, they have been funding sociology as a tool to understand about their history and culture. A common language has helped them to pass through the barrier of not understanding something.
The theory of indigenous sociology has been put forward by the Nigerian sociologist, Akinsola Akiwowo, in 1980. Together with Singapore’s Farid Alatas, they have successfully fought for the development of the local sociology, even though Western views dominate. This certainly helped them to come together to give their viewpoints.
Many sociologists believe that common history gives rise to problems but global trends makes us come together. Also, they do know that it is the civil society of different regions that make them different from each other. Still, they do have a chance of coming together and form “the new actors” for a change in the subject and confront the very unequal world where we all inhabit.