Theorizing World Society: Classical Foundations of the Sociology of Globalization

• In Event: Global and Transnational Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 8. Rethinking nation-state/borders/migration

Abstract

This presentations reviews theoretical ideas and concepts related to globalization that were developed in classical sociology. Broadly referred to as social processes that are not bound to national states, globalization was already discussed by scholars of the classical era. Specifically explored are the works of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel, who have developed ideas that can inform, and have variably informed, contemporary globalization scholarship. Special attention goes to the theoretical variations that exist in how globalization was and can be conceptualized as well as the institutional areas, such as politics, economy, law, and culture, to which they were applied. Although ideas of globalization cannot be said to have been central to the classics working a century or more ago, their excursions into the realm of cross-border social developments can and should be of interest for more reasons than mere intellectual curiosity for contemporary sociologists studying globalization today.

Author

• Mathieu Deflem, Mathieu Deflem