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This overview of the publication market for sociologists in Austria also examines a few recent publications by Austrian sociologists. Writing in German, Austrian sociologists are highly dependent on the market in neighbouring Germany, where approximately one-third of the books written by Austrians are published. Particular deficiencies of books by Austrians published in Austria are careless editing, indexing and copy editing. Among types of publication, most common are volumes of collected papers and monographs. A small number of publications attempt 'diagnoses of the era', addressing a larger audience. Core areas are the history of sociology and the humanities, immigration and the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four articles that appeared in the 1990 issue of the journal "International Sociology," by William Rogers Brubaker; Dongno Kim, Solomon Mombeshora and Nao Oyama, have won the first Worldwide Competition for Young Sociologists that the International Sociological Association (ISA) launched in 1988. The fifth winning paper, by Lu Jianhua, will be published in the March 1991 issue of the journal "International Sociology." All authors are under 35 years of age. Being the top winners of an international competition for young intellectuals, these papers could be read as indicators of the topics and ways of thinking characteristic of the rising generation. However, that they deserve first to be read for what they are: to put it simply, first-grade articles. Started three years ago in very hazardous conditions, this first Worldwide Competition ended up landing in its net a rich catch of 335 papers written in ten different languages and coming from all parts of the world. As such it was not only a competition; it was also an experiment, yielding unexpected and at times very surprising results. This is why it may be of interest to retrace, however briefly, its short history and salient features. The idea of such a competition was first put forward in March 1987 by Margaret Archer, who had in summer 1986 been elected President of the International Sociological Association for four years. Chairing the first meeting of the new Executive Committee, making people understand that ISA finances were quite low, she nevertheless expressed her wish to reach out towards the immense regions of the so-called Third Worlds where the ISA was little known.

This concise paper presents a critical glance over the theories of social change and over the new challenges facing those who wish to understand change in the contemporary world. The first part deals with the discussion of the idea of progress which underlies all the classical sociological explications of global social change -- should it be 'social change', 'change in society' or change of society'? -- and provides a much needed overview of the themes to which sociologists, such as Durkheim, Weber, Parsons, Aron and others gave priority. The second part is a reflection on the extent to which sociology is equipped to enunciate `laws of transformation' or to determine the causes of change. For this, the author refers to Raymond Boudon's La place du désordre (1984) whose critical contribution represents an openness to accept a less `scientistic' view of sociology and highlights the importance of the `spirit of adventure' in sociological analysis. Closing remarks are made on the present challenges for sociology in the contemporary world where it may be possible to envisage an `Oriestern' civilisation, combining characteristics from the East and the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have much to learn from recent anthropological accounts of expertise in global health. This review surveys three recent ethnographies from Fearnley (2020), Keck (2020), and Porter (2019) to examine how global pushes for biosecurity and zoonotic disease surveillance are unfolding in the global periphery. Collectively, these accounts of global health programs in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam show how global forms of expertise are translated into local contexts, running up against resistance and creating new alternate networks of expertise to overcome these barriers. While this focus on translation examines how practices of biosecurity originating from the Global North are implemented elsewhere and are transformed in the process, in preparation for future pandemics, global health experts should also consider how to collect, assemble, and translate local expertise so that it is legible to global science and policymakers faraway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a commentary to a paper by Burns and Dietz which argued that macro-level structures and population phenomena are shaped by micro-level processes and in turn are the selective environment for micro-level processes. The novelty of this paper lies neither in their discussion of the issue nor in their particular approach to it, but how they link their approach to contemporary conceptions of evolution. In connection with their social rule system's approach, this linkage with evolution has the advantage of systematically raising a number of specific questions about evolutionary processes. As the authors make clear, their approach is indebted or at least related to the writings of linguists and linguistic philosophers like Chomsky and (the early) Wittgeinstein. Given the prominence of the linguistic tradition in Great Britain, sociologists there are perhaps more likely to be impressed with the presumed centrality of rules, even when the influence of rules is viewed as much modified by human agency. The authors' advocacy of agency and their anti-structural determinism is admirable, but only the specifics of their linkage between agency and structure are original.

An interview with International Sociological Association president Michael Burawoy is presented. Burawoy shares that he was born in Manchester, England to Russian-Jewish parents. He talks about his time attending a direct grant school and being taught mathematics by his father and getting help from tutors to improve his English language skills. He states that one of the major appeals of sociology to him was the scope it gives to teaching, a career he has always been interested in.

Research films are a rarity in sociology. Enthralled by the potential of research films and having made three films so far, the author believes that this medium offers great opportunities for sociologists. As a powerful means of communication with its tremendous appeal to sociologists and the public alike, research films have a future as an effective tool of data collection like surveys and interviews. But this largely depends upon the readiness of sociologists to make use of the medium of film in their research, by sparing some of their time to learn the necessary skills of filming and editing. Making research films is as rigorous as writing a research paper or a book, and it offers a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure to the sociologist-filmmaker. Against a backdrop of the production of the author's own research films, this article looks at the relevance of the medium to present sociological concepts and theses, the work associated with the production of a research film, the skills that can be learned to produce a movie without relying on film professionals, and the impact that it can have on the career of sociologists in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most influential diagnoses and therapies of the crisis of modernity was formulated by Husserl. He spoke about the crisis of modern European culture as a situation of dramatic choice between the heroism of reason or barbarism. The crisis results from scepticism and irrationalism as products of scientific rationality itself. Husserl was convinced that the only remedy against it is a universal science, based on an absolutely firm foundation and proceeding according to the rigorous method -- i.e. transcendental phenomenology. In The Cans he turned to historical reflection in order to realise the goals of philosophising and of humanity. He also discovered the life-world -- the therapy for rationalism must consist in returning to the Lebenswel:. The paper shows tensions between two motives in Husserl's late philosophy and two different practical philosophies which emerge from it. Contrary to Husserl's programmatic declarations, the phenomenological analysis of the life-world does not portray the human being as an autonomous being, but as being rooted in tradition and history, bodily present in the world, and always among opaque facts and limited in sovereignty. In addition, the alternative of the heroism of reason and barbarism has proved false. We have no scientific ethic, our morals and mores are provisional and non-absolute. For Husserl such a situation would mean the demise of humanity. Be he did not draw this conclusion from his own discoveries. The lesson we have to learn from our experience of the twentieth century and from Husserl's inconsistent attempt differs from the one he wanted to teach us. The paradoxical implication of his philosophy is that the only thing of which we can be absolutely certain in our ethical and political life is the fact that we can never be absolutely certain. But the fact that we are conscious of this does not turn us into barbarians, but, on the contrary, protects us from that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times there has been a boom in the use of `networks' both as a set of techniques and as a body of theory. This paper suggests that its popularity will soon extend to cross-cultural studies from where it came. The potential problems considered are mostly at the level of technique and include those of sampling, measurement error, field problems and data analysis. We argue that many of these problems are unique to network methodology and many have no ready answers. We conclude that before we embrace the network approach, there is a need to clarify the issues raised in discussions among sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers published in June 1, 1988 issue of the sociology journal "International Sociology," were among those presented at Session 1 of the symposium organized for the Tenth World Congress of Sociology held in Mexico City on August 19th, 1982 on the theme universalism versus initialization in sociological theory. Participants included several sociologists and a few political scientists drawn from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, India, Japan, Nigeria, and the U.S. and Soviet Union. The central issue was the extent to which the conceptual schemes and propositions, which constitute mainstream sociological theories, can be accepted as containing universal principles for the explanation of human societies everywhere. Next was the issue of the extent to which sociological theories as forms of conclusions arising from empirical studies of facts of social life in European and American society can be regarded, by extension, to be valid and reliable for the study and understanding of the facts of social life and social problems in African, Asian and Latin American societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The `Sociology of Culture' (or Kultursoziologie) once held a core position next to the `Theory of Society' (or Gesellschaftstheorie), both being indeterminate and yet with a long, and sometimes opposing, internally related history, particularly in German social thought. With its self-destruction, the sociology of culture had also receded in modern sociology, becoming an outmoded notion. However, systematic attention to ethnic cultures appears to have regained its role once more and is today actively pursued as a global discipline. Without directly evaluating these contemporary, often empirical, lines of social research, the paper starts first with the reconstructive task of remembering a tradition by considering the works of Albert Salomon, an emigrant sociologist of culture at the New School (1934-4966). Secondly, in the `ex-centric' way of a centre lost, Salomon becomes a main centripetal figure, offering an integrating but open constellation of thought for a sociology of culture. By unifying the philosophy and ethics of Stoicism with social phenomenology, his historical analyses become keys for an interpretive sociology of social action. Salomon's works are seen in the deepest sense to provide a methodology for a sociology of culture which centres in a type of `written art' or `cultural scriptology'. His whole project is finally viewed in terms of contemporary questions of social trust and trusting in symbolic faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the field of sociology in Portugal as of December 1994 with focus on the Portuguese Sociological Association. As recent as 20 years ago, sociology was non-existent in Portugal. Since then it has shown a brisk development. Jos&eacute Madureira Pinto estimates that there are about 1,000 sociologists in Portugal today. About 40% are invloved in teaching and/or research at universities and colleges. The remainder, which has been increasing overall and relatively, can be found in central, regional and local authorities, companies and their associations, trade unions, consultancies, and so on. The idea that sociologists' professional status and activities are quite widespread in Portugal is confirmed considering that the majority of authors of nearly 200 papers presented at the recent second Portuguese Sociology Congress represent more than 50 institutions with which they work for. The situation has to be related to one of the specific traits of Portuguese sociology today--to avoid the separating demands of scientific research and professional activity. The Portuguese Sociological Association was founded by a few dozen of people on 1985. It was immediately accepted as a member of the International Sociological Association. Today it has about 700 members.

This brief paper will attempt to do the following: it will describe the evolution of Nigerian sociology, highlight its orientation and contributions, as well as attempt a prognosis of its future direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the International Sociological Association's (ISA) Second Worldwide Competition for Young Sociologists. Two highlights should be mentioned first in this report on this year's Second Worldwide Competition for Young Sociologists, which was organized by Veronica Stolte-Heiskanen and ended with a two-week colloquium in Oerlinghausen. First, counting all Chinese papers into one, they were the largest group with seven finalist papers. Considering further that, for the first time, sociologists from Beijing were officially permitted to participate, then the strong Chinese participation with finalist quality essays is an important result for the World Congress in Bielefield and a point to note in future sociological ventures. Second, Nigerian sociology was represented by four participants which turned put to be an active, sociologically well trained group in the Oerlinghausen Colloquium organized by Steven Vaitkus. They were filled with the sociological imagination in its best conceptual sense. As already indicated in the Round Table on Nigerian Sociology and crowned by the recent election of Layi Erinosho onto the new Executive Committee of the ISA--Nigeria proves to be the first station of sociology in Africa.

This article offers views on launching the journal International Sociology. Instead of publishing exclusively authors interested in the analysis of socio-cultural diversity across the world, the journal prefers to publish papers by people motivated by their own national and cultural traditions, the summing-up of which will offer to the reader a more global and comprehensive view of contemporary sociology. A new science that since the eighteenth century was proposed as an effort to take into account the other's viewpoint. In launching a new journal, the International Sociological Association wants just to create a new possibility for sociologists across the world to be a better acquainted with each other's works. For that, a balanced editorial policy will be pursued to publish authors from diverse regions, age and sex groups, as well as theoretical orientations. The time has come to recognize that the Third World and the socialist world are part of the intellectual production system on which, undoubtedly, Western culture will continue to make a strong impression. The endeavor of the journal is to increase knowledge about contemporary societies and sociologies, by showing pluralistic paths of concern in sociology rooted in different historical and cultural traditions.

Nationally representative interview surveys of sexual behaviour and attitudes proliferated around the globe from 1990 onwards as a result of the AIDS scare, yet are overlooked by sociologists. This article reviews findings from some 30 sex surveys around the world showing that large and substantively important differences between men and women in the centrality of sexuality, sexual desire, sexual behaviour and attitudes persist in the 21st century, long after the contraceptive and sexual revolutions of the 1960s. Women’s lesser sexual motivation and interest means that many heterosexual men experience a shortfall in desired sexual activity. A reversal of the sex ratio to a male surplus among prime-age adults and other trends suggest that the sexual deficit among men may increase. The male sexual deficit (or surplus male sexuality) helps to explain sexual harassment, sexual violence, rape, rising demand for commercial sexual services and other behaviours that are almost exclusively male. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an update on the "International Sociology" journal as of December 1998. The scholarly criteria of the journal are very high, as befits an official organ of the most significant international association of sociologists. "International Sociology" has, furthermore, become the membership journal for all subscribed members of the International Sociological Association. With this return to its roots, "International Sociology" has become perhaps the widely diffused sociological journal. It is now read in nearly 100 countries. The journal has now reached a level of maturity that is chosen by some of the most significant sociologists as a forum for discussion. The proposal that each issue should have a cover article has gained an interest which is attested to, by the high level of the cover articles submitted for publication. The portraits of sociologists have also elicited a positive response. The journal has approached a wide range of sociological topics, that is, clinical sociology, sociology of religion, globalization, the sociology of consumers and the emotions. Articles covering sociology from Eastern Europe, Russia, Greece, the Middle East, East Asia, among others have also been published. There has been a welcome increase in the number of subscribers to the journal in the last two years as well as a steady increase in the number of papers submitted for publication to the journal.

Critique and Humanism is a quarterly journal specializing in critical theory and the humanities. Almost all members of its Editorial Board were participants in the Seminar on Critical Theory at Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria in the early 1980's. Critique and Humanism focuses on the chances of critical theory being brought to trial by late capitalism and real socialism, the trial of a historical practice that has invalidated sociologist Karl Marx's prediction. At the crossroads of totalitarian society and the utopian ideas of the post-totalitarian situation, the once powerful project of modernity and the blurred contours of the post-modern alternative, the humanities and critical theory, Critique and Humanism will seek its own road. Each issue of Critique and Humanism has its own theme, but that does not imply that each paper will be strictly limited by its thematic scope. The Institute for Social Critique is financed by empirical sociological research projects, various sponsoring foundations and by the publishers of Critique and Humanism. Primarily the Laboratory carries out the Institute's empirical projects for Ethnomethodological Experiments; while the Critique and Humanism School aims at training specialists in the areas of critical theory and phenomenological sociology.

This article tries to answer two questions: Why has Japanese sociology been so little known in the world? How do we internationalize Japanese sociology? The first point which this article raises is that Japan and Japanese sociology tend to presuppose two dichotomies: premodern–modern and particularism–universalism. Therefore Japan and Japanese sociology tend to understand Japan as unique and deviating from the West. The second point this article deals with is that Japanese sociologists are doing ‘homolingual address’ rather than ‘heterolingual address’. The article shows that reflexive endless translation is necessary for all of us, not only for Japanese sociologists but also sociologists all over the world. In this context, the article stresses the importance of Gerard Delanty’s analysis of the relationship between cultural translation and modernity. His analysis can explain how modernity becomes a form of culture and the West will lose its monopoly of universality. The last part of this article shows that sociology in Japan is intensifying the internationalization of its products, especially since the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An interview with researcher and writer Mona Abaza is presented. When asked about how she defines herself as a sociologist, she states that she was interested in people and their practices. She relates that the work that she focuses into is to trace the Southeast Asia's various influences from the Middle East. She recommends novice sociologists to spend time first with people whom they are interested into before asking or studying about their life.

This article presents an interview with Piotr Sztompka, president of the International Sociological Association, concerning his views on writing sociology and his career as a sociologist. He admits that his greatest achievement is to write a book that will be accepted by other scholars. He also explains his focus on social movements and social change in his writings.

The article examines the reason for the exclusion of Ibn Khaldūn, a Muslim sociologist, from the study of the historical sociology. One explanation is the failure of sociological literature to take into consideration the works of non-Western sociologists in their assessments of works related to sociology. The author points out the significance of considering multicultural sources of sociological thought and theory. Some western scholars recognize Khaldūn as the founder of sociology. Others assume that this Muslim sociologist influenced Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim.

The British Sociological Association (BSA) was founded when British sociology was very small, but it grew rapidly as higher education expanded, and many BSA activities responded to this. Membership has always been open. In the 1950s, younger members wanted more professionalization, and founded a separate group for 'professional sociologists'; this soon became a section of the BSA, and then was closed as no longer needed. Other groups too which had felt their interests required independence have been absorbed. The professionalizing group took over the leadership, only to be challenged in turn by the women's movement; this made gender issues salient, and led to a policy of gender equality. The politicized period of the late 1960s and 1970s, student unrest, and governmental attacks on the social sciences, created many issues which involved the BSA. Internally, policy was egalitarian on several fronts; some senior men objected to this. Activities have grown considerably, and include journals, conferences, codes of practice, study groups, an academic press and a summer school; recently it has also often been necessary to represent sociology in relation to governmental initiatives for higher education. The external environment is now quieter and the discipline has become older and more established, but despite increased professionalization the BSA remains egalitarian and inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents introductory comments on Max Weber's essays on India and China. Max Weber's essays on India and China are part of his Die Wirtschaftsethik der Weltreligionen (The Economic Ethic of World Religions) which also has an important Introduction and Intermediate Reflection and an essay on ancient Judaism. Every interpretation of Weber's essays on India and China must take account of the fact that they are parts of this larger whole and not independent monographs. The English versions of these essays are apt to cause certain misunderstandings in this regard because they have been published under misleading titles (The Religion of India and The Religion of China are not Weber's titles) and also because they have published separately and without regard to their context (The Introduction and the Intermediate Reflection can only be found by the English reader under the titles The Social Psychology of World Religions and Religious Rejections of the World and their Directions in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, translated and edited by H. Gerth and C. W. Mills. Weber's own pronouncements, made over the years of writing those essays starting with The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, show a certain ambivalence as to his intentions, and because of this, but also because of their comparative perspective, the essays on India and on China have long been a challenge for sociologists as well as for specialists in the respective fields of Asian studies.

The author discusses the effort of the periodical in searching best sociological work worldwide. He states that sociology has offered analysis for both the understanding and the transformation of society. He states that the periodical has launched a social network site Facebook and Twitter accounts, and it also invite sociologists and scholars from other fields who engage with sociology to contribute to the periodical's research work.