Colonialism and Modern Social Theory - Prof Gurminder Bhambra & Prof John Holmwood

The consolidation of modern social theory in the writings of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim coincided with the height of European empires and global war between them. Yet, empire lay outside the purview of mainstream social theory except as a phenomenon associated with earlier historical periods and civilisations. As social theory developed into sociology in the mid-twentieth century, most European countries were confronted by anti-colonial movements and challenges to their global dominance.


However, these challenges to the political structures of European modernity, similarly, seemed not to impinge on what sociology came to see as its ‘jurisdiction’ – namely, issues of class, gender, and sexuality. The issue now is not simply to add colonialism to sociology’s repertoire of topics, but to show how that repertoire must change and the concepts and methodologies with which it is associated be transformed. What does it mean to ‘decolonise’ a curriculum of sociology and social theory in which colonialism has been unrecognised?


https://www.sociology.cam.ac.uk/colon...