International Sociological Association (ISA) World Forum, Day 3: Manuel Castells: Sociology and Society in the 21st Century

Manuel Castells’s talk was presented as one of the main events of the entire conference and several hundred people were attending. Castells defined sociology as the scientific study of society. He argued that the status of sociology in society is at an all-time low. One of the reasons would be that sociologists would have engaged [...]

International Sociological Association (ISA) World Forum: Day 2: Alain Touraine, Manuel Castells, Craig Calhoun

The main feature of the second day at the ISA conference was a debate between Alain Touraine, Manuel Castells, and Craig Calhoun on the first’s recent book “Penser Autrement” (Think Differently).

International Sociological Association World Forum: Day 1, Sociological Research and Public Debate

I attended the First World Forum of the International Sociological Association (ISA) that took place in Barcelona from September 5-9, 2008. There were approximately 2500 participants. The overall topic of the conference was “Sociological Research and Public Debate”. So the issue was how sociology can best influence political debates in the public sphere.