Sujata Patel

Recently, a colleague from a European university asked me to contribute an article for a special issue on sociological theory in an English-language open-access journal that she edits. I had not heard of the journal but agreed immediately given that it would mean that if published (after reviews), the paper could potentially be read around the world. This would overcome the circulation bottleneck that exists today in flows of professional knowledge which...

Anti-colonial social theory draws its approach from a critical understanding of anti-colonial thought which grew and spread across the world through anti-colonial social movements. Anti-colonial thought assesses, in various ways, the constitution of hierarchies and domination/hegemony in colonial territories and thus is a proto-sociological analysis of the roles and interventions of “native” groups against colonialism. In order to do this, anti-colonial...

Sociological knowledge in India has been closely associated with the political projects of colonialism and nationalism. However, since the 1980s and 1990s, two sets of processes have triggered individuals and groups to adopt a new language of rights and question the conception of passive citizenship articulated by the Indian state. At one level, there has been the growth of social movements of women, tribes, lower castes, and ethnic groups, and regional...

Since the late 1990s, the term “global modernity” has been increasingly used in literature that debates the nature and content of theories of the globalizing world. The term itself combines two concepts, globalization and modernity, and rephrases the theories of each as they connect to each other. Theories of global modernity initially emerged from mainstream sociological deliberations that interrogated the relevance of classical theories...

ISA members will be very happy to know that henceforth all books published under the Sage Studies in International Sociology (SSIS) title will be available to them for 9.99 pounds sterling, almost a tenth of their old price. And this includes postage. We initiate this new price structure with two new books: Worlds of Difference edited by Said Arjomand and Elisa Reis and Cities and Crisis, New Critical Urban Theory edited by Kuniko Fujita...

Global Dialogue has initiated an interesting debate regarding international sociology. My intervention is directed to Ulrich Beck’s two contributions on the theme of ‘the cosmopolitan turn’ (Global Dialogue 1.2 and 1.3) and also alludes to the comments made on this subject by Raewyn Connell (Global Dialogue 1.2). This comment restricts itself to three ideas: methodological cosmopolitanism, methodological nationalism...

Several new editors have been appointed recently for ISA publications. They are Eloísa Martín (Current Sociology), Christine Inglis (International Sociology), Bert Klandermans (Sociopedia) and Sujata Patel (Current Sociology monographs and Sage Studies in International Sociology); we expect great things from all of them in their important tasks. Special thanks go to their retiring predecessors Julia...