Book review essay: Colonialism and modern social theory

Abstract

As the discipline of the social sciences finds itself at a crossroads hedged in by the remnants of empire, with the ‘decolonisation’ of its conceptual and methodological foundations being the only productive path forward, the question is no longer whether to take this route, but how. In their recent book, Colonialism and Modern Social Theory, Gurminder K Bhambra and John Holmwood offer a stimulating and resourceful guide to this objective, setting forth a provocative approach in disrupting and radically reinterpreting dominant sociological understandings of modern world society. The following book review essay discusses the authors’ interventions by highlighting their interrogations of the canonical figures who would shape the problematic trajectory of the discipline for generations. I assess the book’s core argument of advocating for a need to recentre imperial encounters and relations at an explanatory level in the shaping of capitalist modernity, concluding with considerations for a reflexive and epistemic reconstruction of the sociological canon.