Abstract
Sociology Global, written by R. Sooryamoorthy, provides a palimpsest of sociologies as they are transacted across the globe. The author begins with a historical review of the way sociologies took root and grew in different parts of the globe. The main thrust of this work is, however, to understand the global features of sociological knowledge produced in the contemporary period: ‘who is producing knowledge in which areas, where it is produced, what methodologies have been used, what are the disciplinary, institutional, collaborative and demographic features of the researchers, who publishes the research and from where (2).’ A scientometric survey forms the basis of Sooryamoorthy’s analysis of the present state of sociology. The interrelationships between sociology in various regions are framed in terms of centre–periphery relations. Through this study, the author aims to develop ‘a global perspective (that) can serve as the basis for designing and teaching a global sociology curriculum (11).’
The introductory chapters give the rationale behind the study and the need for a global mapping of sociology. Chapter 3 presents a whirlwind overview of the history and status of sociologies in countries and regions across the globe. This is quite an eye opener, going beyond the borders of nation-states and even briefly sketching out the nature of sub-national sociologies. The fact that sociologies from all continents are represented is indeed refreshing and is a challenge to the hegemonic understanding of sociology as a discipline that is rooted in the Western world. The reader gets a taste of the wide range of sociologies present across the globe, including ‘miscegenation sociology’ in Latin America (29), mathematical sociology (72) and ‘sociologies of games, smell, jealousy and death (64)’.
In Chapter 4, Sooryamoorthy touches upon the major issues in sociology along the axes of specialisation/fragmentation, interdisciplinarity/trans-disciplinarity and present image/future prospects of sociology. Chapter 5 surveys the diverse research interests in sociology, the rise and fall in the popularity of different areas and the regions where they are established. The relation of sociology to other disciplines and its own sub-disciplines is also touched upon. Against this backdrop, Sooryamoorthy outlines the findings of his scientometric survey on the features of sociological research around the globe. The data that forms the basis of this work came from a sample of 4,931 publications out of a universe of 73,515 published works. This included journal articles, book chapters and books indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database between 2000 and 2018. This was further subdivided into two periods so that changes over time could be assessed.
Sooryamoorthy’s survey confirms some perceptions regarding the state of global sociological research. The USA, England, Australia, Canada, Germany and Russia ‘together produced 68 per cent of the publications during 2000-2018’ (109), while ‘publications of authors based in Africa, Latin America or Asia were scarce in the data’ (142). Quoting Connell, Sooryamoorthy makes the point that ‘sociology’s institutional base is in the USA and Western and Northern Europe. All the top-rated journals are edited from these locations, research funding is concentrated in these regions and PhD graduates from these institutions are strategically placed to shape sociology in future’ (171). The survey also provides insights into the kinds of data used and the methodologies adopted in published sociological works. Sooryamoorthy analyses the link between demographic factors such as gender, the disciplinary/departmental/country affiliations of authors, collaborative publications and research areas.
The analysis of global academic collaborations is insightful. Cross-national research and collaborations are presented as a useful way for correcting the imbalances in sociological knowledge production and globalising sociology. Collaborations are shown to increase the visibility and citations of published work, in addition to the publication productivity of authors. At the same time, Sooryamoorthy makes us sit up and take notice with his statement that ‘sociological research can damage sociology as well’ (167), attributing this to ideological commitments.
Although the title suggests both historical and contemporary perspectives, Sociology Global is not a strictly historical account of global sociology. The view of sociology as transacted in contemporary times dominates the volume. At the same time, one is led to wonder whether the data is representative, given the hierarchies in global sociology. The author concedes that ‘the coverage of publications (in the WoS) is not comprehensive’ (23). The addition of all articles from Current Sociology and International Sociology to the data set, irrespective of whether they were already featured in the set of works taken from WoS, could possibly lead to the repetition of entries. While we get a view of the discipline of sociology as it is shaped by socio-political forces, including the ideology of states and regimes, wars and repression, the relation of sociology to market forces is not made obvious in the analysis. The sheer volume of references assimilated in this work at times leads to unsettling jumps in space, time and theme. These dimensions could be considered in future editions.
Sociology Global can contribute much to India’s tradition of doing ‘the sociology of sociology’, taking structural reflexivity beyond the borders of the nation. However, from an Indian perspective, with one of the largest associations of sociologists on the globe, the relative absence of data on Indian works in a work on global sociology is disappointing. Journals such as the Sociological Bulletin and Economic and Political Weekly are not part of the WoS database, and therefore, the works of sociologists published therein do not find a place in this study. Contributions to Indian Sociology is the only Indian journal that has found a place in this analysis, and even this comes at the lower end of the table in terms of citations. Regional-language journals and magazines from India have also not found a place in the study. This should not be surprising, for Sooryamoorthy’s study reveals the trend of scholars in both the global north and the global south looking to the global north for authoritative knowledge, diminishing the value of knowledge produced elsewhere.
In critically analysing the data presented in Sociology Global, one has to keep in mind the imbalances created by academic paywalls, the politics of citations and ‘open access’ and the global academic hierarchies that marginalise ‘southern’ sociologies and peripheral sociologies even within the ‘west’ or the global north. If citation is not a neutral category, conducting research work based on citations is susceptible to the global hierarchies associated with citation practices. A Scopus-based survey may give different results, even though the hegemonic trends in citation may not change substantially. It is laudable that Sooryamoorthy admits to these various limitations.
For the uninitiated, Sociology Global provides a bird’s-eye view of the world of sociology. For those in the field, this work refocuses our attention from discussions of classics or contemporary developments in the global north. It is a welcome addition to the burgeoning field of scientometrics and should interest those who would like to know about the global reach and scope of sociology. The abstracts of individual chapters given at the end are a useful insertion for the casual reader, and the exhaustive reference list, going into twenty-seven pages, can be a source of much scholarship in the future. The wealth of data given in Sociology Global provides a rich site from which to theorise on the sociology of knowledge and to understand the global structures that support and constrain knowledge production in the social sciences. As its author hopes, this is undoubtedly a ‘benchmark study for the future’ (23).
N.B.: All citations are from the book under review.