The Sociological Research Online digital archive of papers, amassed over 30 years, is a valuable but hitherto under-acknowledged trove of materials relating to the many relations that pertain between sociology and ‘history’. We peruse the archive to ascertain what it discloses about how sociology conceives of historical processes and longer-term social change. Three major thematic fields are broached. First, how to situate oneself as a sociologist, in relation to historical materials and phenomena, and in historical time. Second, methodological issues concerning both the relation of data and interpretations thereof to generalising social theory, including in relation to age-cohorts and generations. Third, making sense of collective memory formations are juxtaposed with the salience of non-Western locations, phenomena, and analyses thereof. On these bases, the paper considers how the archive may be actively developed beyond current limitations. In addition to insufficient coverage of non-UK and non-European historical phenomena, and of historically-oriented analysis about and from the global South, the ‘Englishness’ of the archive also needs to be transcended.
Sociology Meets History, in and Beyond England: Explorations in SRO’s Archival Trove / Almila, Anna-Mari; Inglis, David. - In: SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ONLINE. - ISSN 1360-7804. - (2025).
Sociology Meets History, in and Beyond England: Explorations in SRO’s Archival Trove
Anna-Mari Almila;
2025
Abstract
The Sociological Research Online digital archive of papers, amassed over 30 years, is a valuable but hitherto under-acknowledged trove of materials relating to the many relations that pertain between sociology and ‘history’. We peruse the archive to ascertain what it discloses about how sociology conceives of historical processes and longer-term social change. Three major thematic fields are broached. First, how to situate oneself as a sociologist, in relation to historical materials and phenomena, and in historical time. Second, methodological issues concerning both the relation of data and interpretations thereof to generalising social theory, including in relation to age-cohorts and generations. Third, making sense of collective memory formations are juxtaposed with the salience of non-Western locations, phenomena, and analyses thereof. On these bases, the paper considers how the archive may be actively developed beyond current limitations. In addition to insufficient coverage of non-UK and non-European historical phenomena, and of historically-oriented analysis about and from the global South, the ‘Englishness’ of the archive also needs to be transcended.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.