Social theory and contemporary chanllenges

The first seminar will be held online on 16 December 2025 at 2 pm GMT / 3 pm CET
The lecture entitled:
Sociological Alternatives: Their History and Lessons
will be delivered by
Prof. Matt Dawson from the University of Glasgow
The commentators will be Dr Jack Palmer from the University of Leeds and
Dr Mikołaj Ratajczak from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Abstract: This paper discusses what I term ‘sociological alternatives’, namely normative visions provided by sociologists for what should happen. These range from policy-orientated practical measures such as, for example, changes to the education system, all the way to large scale visions of society, for instance a particular model of socialism. What unites these is their sociological basis, with both a critique and alternative emerging from a sociological position. While in recent years sociology has become more willing to think of itself as a normative, even utopian, endeavour, I would suggest it has not fully accounted for the question of how normativity of values does, or does not, translate into the normativity of providing alternatives. Consequently, while sociology now offers alternatives much less frequently, I will show in this paper that the discipline has a long history of doing so, running from schools such as feminism, cosmopolitanism and Marxism, through topics such as anti-racism, equality, education and the state and taking in names as diverse as W.E.B. Du Bois, Émile Durkheim, Angela Davis and G.H. Mead. Based upon this discussion, I offer some key lessons for how sociologists can conceptualise their discipline’s relation to alternatives. In particular, I call for a fuller accounting of what an embrace of normativity might mean for sociologists, including how values do, or not, relate to suggestions for change, as well as an open acknowledge of the political plurality such a project will bring.

Matt Dawson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, with research interests in social theory and the history of sociology. He is the author of G.D.H. Cole and British Sociology: A Study in Semi-Alienation (2024, Palgrave Macmillan); The Political Durkheim: Sociology, Socialism, Legacies (2023, Routledge); Social Theory for Alternative Societies (2016, Bloomsbury, 2nd Edition in preparation) and Late Modernity, Individualization and Socialism: An Associational Critique of Neoliberalism (2013, Palgrave Macmillan). He is also co-editor of the forthcoming Anthem Companion to Henri Lefebvre with Tilman Schwarze.

The meeting will be held in English. Connect to Zoom via the link:

https://zoom.us/j/99561784814?pwd=u7bwrbMZxnG6w3VtU9JDw7zLUeApMf.1

ID: 995 6178 4814; Passcode: 418046

Launched in 2025, a series of seminars hosted by the Department of Theoretical Sociology at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences is aimed at reflecting on the relationship between social theory and the most recent social, cultural, political, economic, and technological transformations.
During regular meetings, we will explore the new directions of social theory development, emphasising their fundamental role in both interpreting the contemporary condition and conducting empirical research on present-day phenomena. The seminar is designed as a forum for presenting innovative theoretical approaches and discussing directions for revising existing concepts and orientations in light of contemporary challenges.
The structure of the meetings will include a lecture by a guest speaker, comments from specialists in the field, and an open discussion on the presented topic. We hope that this format will contribute to cooperation in the development of new theorizations of contemporaneity.

Members of the Department of Theoretical Sociology

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