Geoffrey Pleyers

After its heyday in the 1990s, global sociology has come under harsh criticism by approaches that include subaltern, postcolonial, decolonial, feminist and gender studies, and Southern theories together with other “epistemologies of the South.” Beyond their heterogeneity and divergences, these approaches converge in challenging the legitimacy of global sociology, which has been identified with Eurocentrism and the domination of Northern/Western...

The coronavirus has brought science back to the center of public space, even in countries where populist leaders used to delegitimize it. Epidemiologists, medical doctors, and biologists bring us hard facts: the pandemic progresses every day and it is far worse than a “strong flu.” Social scientists have come up with facts that are as hard and unquestionable: while the virus itself may infect any of us, we are deeply unequal...

In January 2001, 20,000 activists and public intellectuals from all continents gathered in Porto Alegre for the first World Social Forum. They were united by the hope that the 21st century would be more democratic and that international solidarity and global struggles could shape globalization toward a fairer and more equal world. Almost two...