The Ongoing History of Sociological Theory: Memento Nostri Mortui

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About this Research Topic

Submission deadlines

  1. Manuscript Summary Submission Deadline 28 February 2025 | Manuscript Submission Deadline 31 July 2025

  2. This Research Topic is still accepting articles.

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Background

One of the disadvantages of working in such a dispersed field as sociology is that there is not one central place where we can remember those sociologists who have passed on and the works they have contributed to our knowledge of the social world. Even looking for something on “The Dead Sociologists Society” website shows it is mostly dedicated to classical sociological theorists (and has taken our preferred name for this Research Topic, alas).

In an effort to preserve the contributions of these thinkers from across the realms of social theory and sociological theory, and from around the planet, we intend to begin building an archive of short articles engaging with the lives and works of theorists who are recently deceased. In an effort to delimit the number of people whose work could be considered, we have included below a list of thinkers who have died since the start of 2022 (a downloadable version of the list is available from the Topic Editors). This list will be updated somewhat regularly.

While obituaries will of course have been written in a variety of languages about some of the stars of the theory world, we are looking for analytical papers or small Festschriften in the form of a critical review of their works and contributions to sociological knowledge. Lengths can range from short 300 to 500-word pieces, to longer, more integrative review articles (approximately 3000-4000 words in length). Length will not be a factor in the review process. The Article Types that would be the most likely format and style for this type of work (at https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/for-authors/article-types) include: Mini Reviews; Perspective; Conceptual Analysis; and Opinion.

Contributions should include at minimum an overall assessment of the sociologist’s contribution to the discipline, their particular theoretical framework, as well as a list of key publications (with digital access/DOI codes, where possible). Other elements that could be included are discussions about key debates this theorist was important to or engaged in, links with earlier or contemporary thinkers, or other ways in which this person’s work is worth remembering. Amusing anecdotes, but not apocrypha, are always welcome.

If you are interested in contributing to this Research Topic and have a particular thinker on the list you would like to memorialize — or if you have one who hasn’t been listed but you think should be — please email Scott Schaffer (scott.schaffer@uwo.ca) or John Offer (j.offer@ulster.ac.uk) to discuss your plans.

We welcome contributions from across the planet and want to maintain this as a global open access archive. Frontiers has over 650 institutional agreements in place globally, in addition to a fee support program designed to support authors without open access funding. Requests for fee support are handled completely separately from the editorial process and have no bearing on the outcome of the review process. Details on publishing fees and the fee support application can be found at https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/for-authors/publishing-fees.

Theorists of focus:

2023
Paweł Śpiewak (Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland), Imtiaz Ahmad (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India), Francesco Alberoni (University of Milan, University of Lausanne, Italy), Hans Albert (University of Mannheim, Germany), Margaret Archer (University of Warwick; President, Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, UK), Howard Becker (Northwester University, University of Washington, US), Helena Béjar Merino (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain), Monte Bute (Metropolitan State University, US), Jorge Chuaqui Ketlan (Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile), Aaron Cicourel (UC San Diego, US), Miguel Concha Malo (UNAM, Mexico), Charles Crothers (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand), Amando de Miguel Rodríguez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain), Daniel Defert (University of Paris VIII, France), José Manuel del Val Blanco (UNAM, Mexico), Francisco Durand (Ponitificia Universidad Católica de Perú, UT San Antonio, others, Peru), Enrique Dussel (UNAM, Mexico), Amitai Etzioni (George Washington University, US), Enrique Florescano Mayet (INAH, Mexico), Pablo González Casanova (UNAM, Mexico), Ian Hacking (Collège de France; University of Toronto), Jaina Hanmer (Leeds Metropolitan University, UK), Saad Eddin Ibrahim (American University of Cairo, Egypt), M. N. Mahendra Narain Karna (North-Eastern Hill University, India), Loet Leydesdorff (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands), Michael Mac Gréil (Maynooth University, Ireland), Jerold Irwin “Jerry” Mander (International Forum on Globalization, US), Marie-Soeurette Mathieu (poet, writer, Canada (Québec), Marie Mies (University of Applied Sciences, Germany), Antonio Negri (Paris VIII (Vincennes); Collège international de philosophie, Italy), Annie Phizacklea, University of Warwick, UK), Gianfranco Poggi (University of Virgina (inter alia), US), Paula Ximena Quintana Meléndez (Universidad de Valparaíso; Minister of Planning, Chile), Jean-François Sabouret (CNRS; Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme, France), María Luisa Tarrés (El Colegio de México, Mexico), Nechama Tec (University of Connecticut, US), Gyula Tellér (20th Century Institute, Hungary), Alain Touraine (EHESS, France), Hernán Valdés (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile).

2022
Risto Alapuro (Helsinki University, Finland), Victor Javier Arroyo Cuyubamba (Peru), Jean Baechler (Sorbonne, EHESS, France), Mireya Baltra Moreno (Chile), Eleonora Barbieri (Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Italy), Simon Clarke (University of Warwick, UK), Esther Cooper Jackson (US), Bernard Crettaz (Institut d’études sociales, Switzerland), Hector Cuadra Moreno (UANL, Mexico), Gordon Darroch (York University, Canada), Mike Davis (UC Riverside, UC Irvine, US), Nigel Dodd (London School of Economics, UK), Barbara Ehrenreich (journalist, UK), John Eldridge (University of Glasgow, UK), Helen Fein (Harvard University, US), Gordie Fellman, Brandeis University (US), Todd Gitlin (Columbia University, US), Barney Glaser (UC San Francisco, US), Norman Goodman (Stony Brook University, US), Gert Hekma (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands), Karen Kobayashi (University of Victoria, Canada), Yuri Kobishchanov (Africa Institute of Moscow, Russia), Bruno Latour (Sciences Po Paris, France), Ian Law (Leeds University, UK), Robin Leidner (University of Pennsylvania, US), Lyn Lofland (UC Davis, US), Margaret Maruani (CNRS, France), Cândido Mendes de Almeida (variety in Brazil and US (NYU, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia), Andrée Michel (CNRS, France), David Nielson (University of Waikato, New Zealand), Victor Paredes Guerra (Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Perú), Michel Pinçon (CNRS, France), Roland Robertson (University of Aberdeen, UK), Bernabé Sarabia (Universidad Pública de Navarra, Spain), Bill Sherman (University of North Dakota, US), Silvia Sigal (Centro Nacional para la Investigación Científica, Argentina), Dorothy Smith (University of Toronto, Canada), Francisco Soberón Garrido (Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos; Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Perú), Rodney Stark (University of Washington; Baylor University, US), Zondra Gale L. Swanson (Wheaton College, US), Júlia Szalai (Central European University; MTA TK Institute for Sociology, Hungary), Gustavo Verduzco e Igartúa (El Colegio de México; El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico), Charles Vert Willie (Harvard University, US), Kwasi Wiredu (University of South Florida, US).

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Community Case Study
  • Conceptual Analysis
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Community Case Study
  • Conceptual Analysis
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion
  • Original Research
  • Perspective
  • Policy and Practice Reviews
  • Review
  • Study Protocol

Keywords: Sociological Theory, Theorists

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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