The COVID-19 pandemic and crisis dominates the discussions and developments in many countries around the world. The so-called hotspots or the gap between countries of the Global North and South show how social inequalities matter. It is not only healthcare that will be a matter of concern in the next years but also the succeeding […]

Alain Caillé is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense and editor of La Revue du MAUSS (Anti-Utilitarian Movement in Social Science). He is known for his radical criticism of contemporary economics and utilitarianism in the social sciences. He is the originator of the Convivialist Manifesto. On the occasion […]

by Johanna Grubner, Johannes Kepler University, Austria and Assistant Editor of Global Dialogue Before the outbreak of Covid-19 and the enactment of restrictions regarding movement and the right of assembly, many countries around the globe saw a rise of social protests manifesting in marches and demonstrations. These protests, which were expressed foremost on the streets, […]

by Ngai-Ling Sum, Lancaster University, United Kingdom Hong Kong’s June 2019 protest was triggered by an Extradition Bill which, if passed, would allow the repatriation of Hong Kong citizens/visitors to mainland China for criminal prosecution under its rule by (and not rule of) law system. This ignites local fear of Hong Kong losing its “high […]

by Michalis Lianos, University of Rouen, France The Yellow Vests came out of the blue. French society was deeply unaware of the potential that such a movement could have. It is well known that established political institutions and the media vilified the movement. It was not surprising since the white lower classes were seen as […]

by Jorge Rojas Hernández, Water Research Center for Agriculture and Mining (CRHIAM), Chile, and Gunhild Hansen-Rojas, Universidad de Concepción, Chile The current social protests in Chile (estallido social) are creatively accompanied by graffiti, murals, music, poetry, songs, meetings, and collective debate. The historically accumulated discontent of Chileans is thus given expression in a new kind […]

by Rima Majed, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and member of ISA Research Committees on Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution (RC01), Racism, Nationalism, Indigeneity and Ethnicity (RC05), Political Sociology (RC18), Women, Gender and Society (RC32), Social Classes and Social Movements (RC47), Social Movements, Collective Action and Social Change (RC48) October 2019 witnessed the eruption of […]

by Marlen van den Ecker, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany and Sebastian Sevignani, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and University of Paderborn, Germany Contemporary media technology develops and is used for communication within social conditions frequently referred to as “digital capitalism.” Different from the diagnoses of “postindustrial,” “informational,” or even a “global knowledge society,” […]

by Marisol Sandoval, City, University of London, UK, and Sebastian Sevignani, Paderborn University and University of Jena, Germany Critical media and communication sociology is facing a theoretical and practical dilemma: While for critical social theory, inspired by Marxian and Marxist thinking, productive activity is key to understanding the momentum of social transformation, communication and media […]

by Mark Andrejevic, Monash University, Australia The notion of “automation” in the abstract, unmoored from social relations, invites fantasies of a material world dedicated to the service of humans: homes that, unbidden, cater to our needs, factories that work for us, spaces that respond to us by opening doors, playing music, even catching us when […]

by Jack Linchuan Qiu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong With the help of digital media platforms, location-based services, and artificial intelligence (AI), the Chinese government has dramatically strengthened social control over the spatial movement of its people and the evolving geography of its cities and countryside. This article, however, contends that if we shift […]

by Tanner Mirrlees, Ontario Tech University, Canada From the end of the Cold War up until the US-led global War on Terror hit the wall of the Great Recession, the US was the globe’s largest empire, and one with no rival. But nowadays, US President Donald Trump, US foreign policy strategists, and even publics polled […]

by Mandy Tröger, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany The West German union magazine Publizistik & Kunst called it “the gold rush,” while the newspaper die tageszeitung was reminded of “the early days of capitalism.” Both referred to the development of the press market in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the spring of […]

by Francis Nyamnjoh, University of Cape Town, South Africa I grew up in West and Central Africa where we believe, organize, and conduct our lives around the idea that everything in the world and in life is incomplete: nature is incomplete, the supernatural is incomplete, humans are incomplete, and so are human action and human […]

by Filomin C. Gutierrez, University of the Philippines, Philippines and member of ISA Research Committees on Sociology of Deviance (RC29), and Women, Gender and Society (RC32) This volume of Global Dialogue presents reflections of members of the Philippine Sociological Society (PSS) on various issues such as urbanization and governance, the LGBT movement, violence in the […]

by Louie Benedict R. Ignacio, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines and member of ISA Research Committees on Sociology of Education (RC04) and Regional and Urban Development (RC21) Urban studies in the Philippines, and urban sociology in particular, saw a rapid growth from the 1980s onwards when the capital city of Manila and its surrounding cities […]

by John Andrew G. Evangelista, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines, and member of ISA Research Committee on Women, Gender, and Society (RC32) When it first emerged as a framework through which society could be examined, queer theory directed our vision towards the understanding, if not the glorification, of the oppositional. To engage the orthodoxy […]

by Filomin C. Gutierrez, University of the Philippines, Philippines and member of ISA Research Committees on Sociology of Deviance (RC29), and Women, Gender and Society (RC32) When Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency in the Philippines in July 2016, a war on drugs was immediately cascaded into Philippine communities. This campaign saw members of the Philippine […]

by Phoebe Zoe Maria U. Sanchez, SMAG/CriDIS, UC Louvain, Belgium, and University of the Philippines Cebu, Philippines and member of ISA Research Committee on Political Sociology (RC18) Piles of dead bodies have mounted under the current Duterte regime (Rappler, December 2018). More concretely, this regime has embarked on an impressive political settlement scheme with a […]

by Mario Joyo Aguja, Mindanao State University, Philippines, President of the Philippine Sociological Society and Member of ISA Research Committees on Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution (RC01), Sociology of Aging (RC11), Urban and Regional Development (RC21), Sociology of Arts (RC37), and Sociology of Disasters (RC39) The islands of Mindanao, often referred to as the Southern […]

by Geoffrey Pleyers, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, ISA Vice-President for Research, past president of ISA Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movement (RC47), and member of ISA Research Committees on Sociology of Religion (RC22), Sociology of Youth (RC34), and Social Movement, Collective Action and Social Change (RC48) The coronavirus has brought science back […]

by Klaus Dörre, University of Jena, Germany In April 2020, while I am writing this, the economy is heading towards a recession. Nobody can make an exact prediction about developments in the coming months, as it is uncertain how long the pandemic will last. But it is probably not too far-fetched to anticipate a deep […]

by Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut, Lebanon and President of the International Sociological Association (2018-22) The surreal atmosphere of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed fault lines in trust among human beings, among countries, and between citizens and governments; it is pushing us to raise big questions about ourselves, our social relationships, and life generally. This […]

by Lutfun Nahar Lata, The University of Queensland, Australia and member of ISA Research Committee on Urban and Regional Development (RC21) The fastest growing megacities in the world are failing to provide support for livelihoods for the urban poor. Consequently, informality, which refers to activities that largely remain unrecognized by “formal” regimes and includes both […]

by Raquel Varela, New University of Lisbon, Portugal In the summer of 2016, the US multinational Dura Automotive – a global supplier of automotive components operating in several countries – committed to deliver components to Chrysler, Audi, and BMW. Orders were on the rise and Dura was at risk of paying high fines if workers […]

by Elísio Estanque, University of Coimbra, Portugal, and member of ISA Research Committee on Social Classes and Social Movements (RC47) In his 2017 book On Extremism and Democracy in Europe Cas Mudde argues that the main struggle of populist radical right parties is to increase the saliency of “their” issues, such as corruption, immigration, and […]