UCL Sociology Network Inaugural Annual Lecture
30 March 2022, 6:00 pm–7:15 pm
Contemporary Sociology and the Reconstruction of its Canons
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
Michael Reade – Collaborative Social Science Domain, RIGE0207679 8713
Location
-
Sir Ambrose Fleming Lecture TheatreRoberts BuildingMalet StreetLondonWC1E 7JEUnited Kingdom
- You can watch a recording of the lecture here
The idea of a set of figures that establish a core conceptual framework, or set of themes, organising the discipline of sociology is, as Raewyn Connell argues, a relatively recent phenomenon. The initial presentation of a foundational generation, from 1890 to 1920, was set out by Talcott Parsons in the 1930s. It included Durkheim and Weber and their understandings of modern society. It did not, however, have place for Du Bois who was their contemporary. This foundational period also coincided with the height of European empires, including the ‘scramble for Africa’, and culminated in a world war between imperial powers. Yet, colonialism and empire lie outside the dominant framings of modern society and are largely attributed to earlier historical periods and civilisations. While the social movements of the sixties brought Marx, and concerns with capitalist economic relations, into the core of sociology, they did not challenge the colonial absences. In this talk, I discuss the conceptual architecture of sociology that has been bequeathed to us via a focus on the foundational generation and argue for the need to reconstruct it through an address of the broader, shared histories that have produced our present..
Welcome and introduction
UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence
Q&A Chair
Dr Katherine Twamley, Associate Professor of Sociology, Social Research Institute, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society
Concluding remarks
Professor Fiona Stephenson, Professor of Medical Sociology, Primary Care & Population Health, Institute of Epidemiology & Health, Faculty of Pop Health Sciences
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About the Speaker
Professor Gurminder K Bhambra
Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies / President, British Sociological Association / Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences at University of Sussex
More about Professor Gurminder K Bhambra