Reading sociological theory against its grain

Abstract

he special issue “Reading sociological theory against its grain” proposes to shed light on a number of queries that have been impacting sociology, and more specifically the theoretical debate, in different terms. If the keywords of our call for papers echoed an intellectual (Benjamin, 1980) who himself was not a sociologist stricto sensu , but whose thought straddles and enriched several con - ventional disciplines, this is not a coincidence. Our understanding of sociology as echoed in the call is one of a wider scope with a plurality of theoretical, but also epistemic angles and political commitments. As such, the five essays composing our special issue mirror this effort from different perspectives, as embodied by the au - thors as well as made visible in the various themes they approach. Another two con - tributions that could not be delivered for a number of reasons, not least of which was the impact of the pandemic context, would ideally have widened the scope of the issue even further. Our endeavour explicitly proposed to gather the work of scholars at different stages of their careers and address the historical marginalisa - tion of women and non-white scholars when it comes to theoretical debates. This special issue also takes into account different forms of conceiving theory and approaching it. Hence, our essays draw upon a variety of perspectives, as is the case with the social studies of science, history of sociology, and others that consider an immanent critique of the debates, without ignoring the institutional aspects sur - rounding the production of theory and their subjects. We see a departure from a closed, fixed understanding of what counts as a theoretical debate as an important exercise towards pluralizing theoretical discussions. Therefore we expect each of the texts to open new venues and lead towards further readings and research.