Qualitative Social Research and Transregional Theory-Building in the Context of Global Sociologies

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Marian Burchardt
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 452021398

The network seeks to examine and strengthen the role of qualitative social research in societies of the Global South in processes of general sociological theory-building. The ongoing dominance of Western sociological theories has been thoroughly critiqued, chiefly in the field of postcolonial theory. However, the visibility of qualitative studies in the Global South in processes of sociological theorization is still limited and they are rarely systematically confronted with the canon of Western theories. Made up of sociologists from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Germany, the members of the network conduct systematic comparisons of research findings from selected fields of sociological research and of theoretical approaches from diverse regional contexts. Thereby, they contribute to the development of reflexive sociological concepts and theories and advance the agenda of global sociology in the German sociological landscape. We focus on three fields: health, gender and sexuality (1), family and biography (2) as well as urbanism, space and architecture (3). We assume that these fields are especially apt to reveal processes of social change from a transregional theoretical perspective as well as regional similarities and differences.The network brings together sociologists who do research in societies of the Global South, are specialized in one or more of the named fields and are theoretically committed to questions of global sociology. In five workshops, members address the following questions: What are the differences and similarities of qualitative social research in different world regions? How can different approaches be interlinked and research findings made comparable? Which concepts and theories turn out to be regionally specific and which ones as more or less universally applicable? Which procedures to construct and identify shared problem spaces, borne among other things by globalization, appear useful? Which (non)Western theoretical approaches have explanatory potentials beyond their context of origin? In which ways can Western and non-Western theoretical approaches be adapted? How does sociological theory-building respond to the postcolonial challenge?

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Johannes Becker