Changes in global and Russian theoretical sociology

Abstract

The article presents an overview of changes in contemporary theoretical sociology over the past two-three decades from the position of an employee of the journal “Sociological Studies” who supervised the relevant sections during these years. It is proposed to consider changes in the world, in particular the formation of its multipolarity, as the main driving force of changes in sociology and its theoretical sections. By now, the decolonization of countries and continents activates scholars whose approaches to sociology differ from those of M. Weber, T. Parsons, etc. who shaped sociology, oppose them in some respects, and seek concepts adequate to the social reality of liberated countries and peoples in the past and present. A qualitatively new toolkit of sociology, associated with the possibilities of digitalization, is also among the factors. Such a prospect of changes in sociological theory as sociology’s rise to the level of “social science” is also discussed. It is noted that humanism and the “agenda” of the Left – justice, equality, development of society and individuals, etc. – have become the content core of changes in sociological theorizing in recent decades. In conclusion, the main processes in Russian sociological theory are considered.