In many countries all over the world, democratic institutions and processes face increased challenges and pressure. Authoritarian tendencies can be observed in young and old democracies alike: a top-down leadership gains prominence again, nationalism soars, and civil society is weakened through the restriction of political rights. Women’s and minorities’ rights are particularly under attack. In […]

Nancy Fraser is one of today’s most eminent critical theorists and feminist thinkers. She is Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research in New York. In a number of widely read publications, among them Redistribution or recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange (2003), a debate with Axel Honneth, she develops a theoretical […]

by Hauke Brunkhorst, University of Flensburg, Germany After a century of fierce, bloody, and brutal class struggles, global civil wars, and world revolutions, the capitalist state became the cosmopolitan-constituted (e.g. Articles 23 to 26, German Basic Law), democratic and social state (Articles 20 and 28, German Basic Law). In the Global North, justice became an […]

by Christian Fuchs, University of Westminster, United Kingdom Far-right politics has in recent years expanded and consolidated its power. We have Donald Trump (Republican Party) in the USA, Viktor Orbán (Fidesz) in Hungary, Heinz-Christian Strache (Freedom Party) in Austria, Geert Wilders (Party for Freedom) in the Netherlands, Narendra Modi (Bharatiya Janata Party) in India, Recep […]

by Andrea Silva-Tapia, Humboldt University of Berlin and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Citizenship and nation-state building in a still colonial world Citizenship as a concept is ambiguous and the debate over its meaning is rather broad. While for some the term refers to a purely legal status given by nationality or country of belonging, […]

by Hlengiwe Ndlovu, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa In recent years, South Africa has been gripped by a student movement unprecedented in its militancy, arguably, since the 1976 Soweto students uprising. The #FeesMustFall movement emerged in 2015 and continued into 2016. The demands were forged around access to free quality education, and the transformation […]

by Gerassimos Kouzelis, University of Athens, Greece Talking about direct democracy nowadays can sound idyllic as its potential to actually be applied is extremely limited. The idea of substantial democratic control beyond parliament, as found in recent literature, sounds like a radical claim with utopian elements. How can the “demos,” the people, exercise even mediated […]

by Haryati Abdul Karim, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Malaysia  One of the most profound effects of social media on society is undoubtedly the extent to which it has become a tool of empowerment for ordinary citizens to determine their future lives. Social life today is characterized by Internet activism, in which people from all walks […]

by Esteban Torres Castaños, National University of Cordoba and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina The Argentine Republic is experiencing a remarkable retreat of democracy. The extension and complexity of this retreat is difficult to understand if using the theories of democracy that, with the collapse of the military dictatorships, have become […]

by Amy Austin Holmes, The American University in Cairo, Egypt, and visiting scholar at Harvard University, USA Mesmerized by the spectacle of mass protests on Tahrir Square, the Arab Spring has led to a renewed interest in the study of revolutions. Despite the outpouring of literature, women often appear to be missing in action. H.A. […]

by Peter Wahl, executive board member, World Economy, Ecology & Development Association (WEED), Berlin, and co-founder, Attac Germany, Germany In the 1990s a concept started its career: global governance. This promised a new and more democratic type of international system as well as globalization with a human face. The trajectory of the concept teaches interesting […]

by Nicolás Lynch, National University of San Marcos, Peru Aníbal Quijano (1928-2018) has been the critical intellectual par excellence in Peru and Latin America, one who acted according to his principles. When he emerged as a sociologist in the 1960s and 1970s, criticism of the status quo was at its peak. Quijano never gave in […]

by Raquel Sosa Elízaga, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico The hero of a thousand battles, Aníbal Quijano was taken by surprise when the University of Costa Rica conferred on him the title of Doctor honoris causa. He was even more surprised when a packed auditorium gave him a standing ovation. He warmly thanked the […]

by Joshua Budlender, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA It has become a truism to note that while South Africa’s black majority achieved political freedoms with the end of apartheid in 1994, substantive economic freedoms have remained unrealized. This refrain is however often stated in very general terms, or in the context of specialized study of […]

by Vassilis Arapoglou, University of Crete, Greece After eight years of imposed harsh austerity, the Greek government anticipated the post-bailout era and promoted its “Growth Strategy for the Future,” a plan that was negotiated with the Eurogroup, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund together with discussions over enhanced forms of fiscal surveillance following […]

by Juliana Martínez Franzoni, University of Costa Rica, and member of ISA Research Committee on Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (RC19) Despite economic growth, electoral competition, and left turns, the rate of female poverty in Latin America increased from 114 to 127 for every 100 men. What went wrong for millions of women across […]

by Fabian Kessl, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany In December 2017 the board of the local food bank (Tafel) in Essen (Germany) decided to restrict access for migrant users. Referring to the assumed misconduct of a young migrant man, the food bank revoked access for people without a German passport. This decision to restrict the access […]

by Mustafa Koç, Ryerson University, Canada and member of ISA Research Committees on Sociology of Migration (RC31) and Agriculture and Food (RC40) Food security emerged as a discourse during the global financial crisis in the mid-1970s as an international priority to address availability and accessibility of food for all. One of the most familiar definitions […]

by Sujata Patel, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, India and member of ISA Research Committees on History of Sociology (RC08), Urban and Regional Development (RC21), Conceptual and Terminological Sociology (RC35), Historical Sociology (RC56), and board member of RC08 Since the late 1990s, the term “global modernity” has been increasingly used in literature that debates the […]

by Marta Bucholc, University of Bonn, Germany and University of Warsaw, Poland[1] The history of sociology in Poland was from the very beginning marked by the tension between international consequentiality and local engagement. The tension is hard to negotiate, because it touches on the deep foundations of its disciplinary identity and translates into research, theorizing, […]

by Jan Czarzasty, and Juliusz Gardawski, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland, Adam Mrozowicki, University of Wrocław, Poland and member of ISA Research Committee on Labor Movements (RC44), and Vera Trappmann, Leeds University Business School, United Kingdom There is plenty of evidence that the younger generation across Europe experiences increasing uncertainty in their lives, stemming from […]

by Katarzyna Dębska, Sara Herczyńska, Justyna Kościńska, and Kamil Trepka, University of Warsaw, Poland As Arlie Hochschild explained in Global Dialogue in 2016, sociologists need to search for answers to the question posed in this article’s title not only in economic processes and emergent social sentiments, but also in the biographies of the supporters of […]

by Maciej Gdula, University of Warsaw, Poland In November 2017, it had been two years since the elections that allowed the Law and Justice (PiS) party to form its own government. While many rules of liberal democracy were violated during these two years, over 40% of voters still supported the government. It was at this […]