Welcome!
“Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach
Capitalism is founded on the ability to appropriate the social surplus of society by the few who control the means of production and of subsistence. The consequence of these capitalist social relations is a chronic and environmentally unsustainable dynamic, periods of boom alternating with bust, resulting in longer and deeper crises that inflict ever greater pain on more and more of the world’s population. The Association for Critical Sociology, through the journal Critical Sociology and the book series Studies in Critical Social Sciences, and during the many conferences and panels it sponsors, is committed to providing both a space for critical analysis and an opportunity to have an open dialogue that can examine the consequences of capitalist development and the potential for resistance.
Critical Sociologypublished by SAGE For almost 40 years the journal has provided a space where scholars can share their ideas and publish their works challenging the dominant paradigms in Sociology. |
Studies in Critical Social SciencesPublished by BRILL and Haymarket Books This series was launched as an outlet of progressive and critical scholarship in support of junior scholars and more accomplished academics seeking a receptive audience for their research. Paperback editions are available from Haymarket Books, with student discounts for course adoption. |
A new partnership for Critical Sociology:Institute of Social Theory and Dynamics特定非営利活動法人 社会理論・動態研究所Director: Hideo AOKI The Institute of Social Theory and Dynamics (ISTAD) is a non-profit academic organization that performs theoretical and empirical studies and research on the structure and dynamics of change in modern societies. Research and studies are conducted by utilizing sociological theories and methodologies on comparative analysis and studies on an international scale. It aims to present its accomplishments in the form of papers and reports to the local and international academic society, the general public and also to the people with whom we have created meaningful academic and human relationships during the course of research and studies. The ultimate value underlying our studies is humanistic critical thinking which analyzes the rapidly changing societies in order to create scientific knowledge that may help minimize or avoid social dilemma born out of change. See the new journal (English) exploring critical sociology in Japan: Social Theory and Dynamics (STAD)Email to learn more about ISTD or STAD: info[at]istdjapan.org |
Podcasts:Critical Sociology provides Podcasts of interviews with noted scholars and contributors to the journal, with transcription available. A current list of Podcasts available can be found here. The Insurgent SociologistEmerging out of the malaise of the 1950s and a growing awareness of social injustice, graduate students challenged functionalism as the dominant paradigm within Sociology. An awareness that social science was being used in the “war on poverty” and inequality was the bi-product of a system promising greater prosperity led students into confrontations with both the academic and social forces of control. By the 1967 ASA annual meeting the conflict between left and right in sociology came to a head, and by the 1968 ASA meeting in Boston the Sociology Liberation Movement emerged. It quickly became clear that there was interest in a competing analysis, and soon thereafter The Insurgent Sociologist, the forerunner to Critical Sociology, emerged to promote critical scholarship and engage in debates over the direction of the discipline. Many of the ideas now fully integrated in our current understanding of the impact of capitalist social relations first appeared in the pages of The Insurgent Sociologist, written by scholars who have become the foundation that helped created a significant challenge to conventional wisdom in social science research. We offer our readers a glimpse of the artwork that graced the covers of these pioneering efforts to build a new paradigm of critical research. |