CALL FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS TO THE DOSSIER "METAMORPHOSES AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY IN TIMES OF CRISIS"
Synopsis
Taking the intertwining of Sociology and Society as a starting point, this dossier invites researchers to make contributions that allow us to think about how the challenges of the present day affect sociological practice. We propose a dialog around the meanings, limits and challenges that tension Sociology based on ethical, epistemic, political and methodological issues which, to a large extent, reflect the profound transformations that are taking place in the various social configurations on multiple scales. Based on a broad review of the literature produced internationally in recent decades, we identified a series of diagnoses which, despite the uniqueness of their positions, indicate the existence (or: discuss the possibility) of a crisis in Sociology as an academic discipline, either by pointing out the exhaustion of its most consolidated assumptions, with a consequent demand for transformation, or by formulating concerns about its future in the face of the radical changes already underway.
In this regard, we realize that debates on crisis should not necessarily be taken as an expression of disciplinary fragility, but rather as a symptom of the intertwining with its object and an opportunity for criticism, i.e. a privileged moment of reflexivity, which requires active engagement from us in order to understand the ongoing metamorphoses and to examine principles or renegotiate the meaning and boundaries of sociological practice.
Above all, we are interested in fostering a debate with an international scope, in which the social sciences can take on a necessary leading role. After all, part of the diagnosis of the crisis involves criticizing the hegemony of the Global North in the production of knowledge, especially in defining the parameters that structure theoretical and methodological debates. Some of the most pressing challenges of the moment, such as the climate crisis, social inequalities, racism and gender violence, have a strong impact on societies in the global South, which makes them a privileged place to contribute to the process of rethinking the theoretical and methodological foundations that can shape the future of the discipline.
In more specific terms, based on this relationship between the metamorphoses of the discipline and the notions of critique and crisis, we propose the following questions as possible axes for proposing articles:
1) What are the recent controversies regarding the history and identity of sociology, its fundamental concepts and its relationship with other disciplines, and to what extent can they be understood by the sign of crisis?
2) How can we evaluate the most recent attempts within sociology and social theory to produce an understanding of contemporary social crises? What is the potential of new theories to change the program of the discipline? How can they alter our understanding of the critical potential of sociological theory and research?
3) In what sense should sociology seek to transform its conceptual and theoretical references in order to deal with transformations both within social processes and within the epistemic community itself?
In this dossier, we will accept articles that address these issues based on:
- a) specific themes that are the objects of theoretical and conceptual controversies, for example, the understanding of the canon or classics of sociology, the diagnoses of crisis or fragmentation of the discipline; the problems concerning the place of criticism and normativity in sociological research.
- b) important concepts for this debate, such as crisis, critique, society, solidarity, axiological neutrality, etc;
- c) evaluation of the contribution of a theory, a theoretical movement, a specific author or author in a comparative perspective;
- d) themes, authors and contributions from peripheral or semi-peripheral regional contexts.
Raquel Weiss, Felipe Maia e Giuseppe Ricotta
Dossier Editors
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Submissions to the dossier must be sent on the RBS webpage (https://rbs.sbsociologia.com.br/) for the section “Dossier Metamorphoses and Transformations of Sociology” section, until April 30, 2025, and shall comply with the Guidelines for Authors.
Manuscripts submitted to the dossier will go through four review stages. The first, carried out by the journal's editorial team, will assess the manuscript's conformity to the Guidelines for authors. In case of non-compliance, the authors will be informed and the submission will be archived. The second stage will be carried out by the organizers of the dossier in collaboration with RBS editors, who will assess the relevance of the manuscript to the dossier program. In case of non-adequacy, an editorial review will be prepared and sent to the authors and the submission will be refused. The third stage will consist of double-blind peer review of manuscripts approved in the previous stages. Manuscripts with negative reviews will be rejected. Those with a recommendation for revisions may be rejected at the discretion of the dossier’s organizers or have a revision requested and may then compose the list for final selection. Submissions with reviews for acceptance will be part of the final selection of manuscripts to be chosen for the dossier.
Among those submissions approved for the final stage, two will be selected to integrate the dossier. The remaining ones, at the discretion of the RBS editors, may be considered for publication in other editions of the journal, in the regular submissions section, if the authors so desire.
