Abstract
In Connected Sociologies, Gurminder K Bhambra delivers an eminently useful and approachable critical overview of various theoretical approaches to global sociology. She also introduces in broad strokes her own suggested approach for which she coins the term ‘connected sociologies.’ This book is intended as an introductory volume in the series ‘Theory for a Global Age,’ within which other scholars apply Bhambra’s methodology to various theoretical and historical topics. The book is a prolific collection of food for thought concerning the highly pertinent and unresolved question of how to develop and practice sociology that is global through and through. The critiques she delivers in this slim volume are necessary and overdue, and the approach she outlines, although presented somewhat vaguely, is hard to refute. Bhambra’s criticisms and suggestions demand serious grappling and further development.
The book is divided into three parts. The first two are overviews and critical engagements with recent theories and theorists of global sociology, and the third is primarily a brief introduction of Bhambra’s proposed approach. The tone of her delivery varies throughout the book. At times, the reading is textbook dry, at other times it borders on polemical. Bhambra will often interject (presumably) sarcastic remarks at the end of explanatory paragraphs. At times harsh, her cutting comments are not empty accusations; with razor sharpness, they effectively expose weaknesses, blind spots, and hypocrisies in the theories under her scrutiny. They can also be pretty funny.
In the first part of the book, Bhambra covers various theories of modernity and world history, finding them all deficient. Despite nobly voiced goals of overcoming Eurocentrism in historical sociology, authors are all guilty of perpetuating the same old problem, just in new proverbial garb. From Eisenstadt’s ‘multiple modernities’ to Wallerstein’s ‘world-system,’ attempts to remove Euro-America from its myopically central position in dominant sociologies of world history have come up short. Perhaps well-meaning, these authors maintain blind spots in their models, which Eurocentrism therefore continues to infect.
In the second part, she surveys various proposed strategies for moving social science beyond its prior and present dominance by people, perspectives, and theoretical constructs from Euro-America. She finds these proposals deficient as well. Her main criticism of these perspectives has to do with their inability to answer their own calls and deliver on their promises. They request alternatives but they do not execute them, or they present their alternatives in vague terms, or they fail to effectively address the many-sided dilemma of creating a singular ‘global sociology’ that is rooted in and can fruitfully represent cultural and historical differences in all corners of the globe. Overall, these proposals include important social critiques, but they fall short in terms of presenting a tangible and rigorous way forward for social theory.
Bhambra dedicates the third and final part of the book to providing her own suggestion of ‘connected sociologies.’ She paints her model as one that can overcome the deficiencies of the approaches discussed in prior sections. After articulating critical perspectives that influence her (postcolonialism and decoloniality), she emphasizes the necessity of studying the historical connections that have run through and beyond nation-states, notably vectors of oppression not reducible to Eurocentric narratives that position ‘Western capitalism’ as the origin and center of all noteworthy global forces over the past several hundred years. This is not the first time she has emphasized her point about connections. In Rethinking Modernity, she largely said the same thing, although referencing Subrahmanyam’s ‘connected histories’ instead of ‘connected sociologies.’ The difference between the two terms is unclear, other than the fact that the latter was coined by Bhambra. In fact, if ‘connected sociologies’ is not essentially synonymous with using a connected histories approach in sociology, then an articulation of the meaning of the term is absent in these pages.
Along with never quite getting to a clear explanation of what her theory consists of, she leaves the reader without resolution to the important conundrums about sociological knowledge raised implicitly and explicitly throughout book, especially in the middle chapters. For instance, how, if at all, can non-Western academics engage with the Western sociological canon in a way that escapes the trappings of coloniality? How, if at all, can Western academics engage with non-Western sociologies in a way that is neither classifying them as separate and Other and hence unamenable to a dialogue with the Western canon (effectively ignoring them), nor diluting and deforming them by translating them into Western concepts, nor simply adding them to the Western canon that will effectively carry on (Eurocentric) business as usual? And how, if at all, can non-Western sociologies of different geographical origins engage in a dialogue with one another while retaining their independent integrities? Moreover, is a unified global sociology that somehow rises to all of these challenges possible? Bhambra puts a spotlight on these important questions with great finesse in her critiques of other approaches, and yet the questions are still unanswered when the book is finished. She seems to imply that her text overcomes these quandaries, whereas it really only points tentatively yet confidently in the direction of their resolution. Obviously, this is disappointing. Then again it is pretty reasonable, too. They are difficult questions after all. And to her credit, her proposal is laudable.
Tackling such a comprehensive and complicated task in so few pages necessitates, of course, leaving out many of the details. Surely the myriad of perspectives she discounts would not be so easy to dismiss (never mind in such unequivocal terms) were she to give them more sustained and nuanced descriptions. Regardless, her overall criticisms are hard to ignore, and the way forward she points, though lacking definition, seems likewise hard to set aside. Her theory ultimately appears more as a handful of broad principles for future work than as a clear map. Taken by itself, Connected Sociologies tears down more than it builds. Of course, as noted above the book is explicitly intended as an introduction in the book series ‘Theory for a Global Age,’ wherein other authors apply Bhambra’s methodology. For this purpose, the work is well situated. It certainly inspires a desire to see what ‘connected sociologies’ means in application.
Bhambra does a marvelous job of distilling a voluminous body of other authors’ work into fewer than 200 pages of text – and not in the smallest typeface either – in relatively straightforward prose. The book is informative and accessible, especially considering how much theoretical ground it covers. Her criticisms of other authors are penetrating, clearly delivered, and highly called for. As a critical survey of theoretical approaches to global sociology coupled with a handful of broad principles suggested for future work, the book is powerful, profound, and accessible. Moreover, it is needed. It may eventually be viewed as a landmark text in the development of global sociology.