Contemporary Western Sociology · Anthropology New Dictionary

Author: Huang Ping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: This book is a relatively new reference work in the field of sociology in recent years. The distinctive feature of this book is its attempt to break away from the traditional style of academic dictionaries. It collects some important but undecided terms in academia and emphasizes a "variety of schools and diverse opinions" in definitions, allowing readers to see that these terms do not have a fixed definition or translation. The book includes over 200 newly emerging sociological and anthropological terms in recent years. Although the book is small in size, the issues it explores are precisely the starting point for what we will discuss today. That is, the social sciences were established in the 19th century, but social thought, social theory, and social philosophy existed before that. However, what we now call sociology almost emerged in the 19th century. From its very inception, the social sciences have been the product of the basic institutional framework we rely on today, as well as the primary source that provides legitimacy and justification for this framework and its institutions. This framework is the nation-state system. Before the 19th century, the world was not organized according to the nation-state system. Many small feudal states, colonial empires, and vast tribes and regional societies existed for a long time. However, what we now understand by the nation-state—such as sovereignty, borders, territory, its own national economy, national defense and security, as well as the rights and obligations of citizens under this framework of institutions—this entire system was basically established in Europe from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. After World War II, almost all regions and peoples in the world were gradually organized under this framework.