Qualitative Social Research and Transregional Theory-Building in the Context of Global Sociologies

该网络旨在审查和加强全球南方社会的定性社会研究在一般社会学理论建设过程中的作用。西方社会学理论的持续主导地位受到了彻底的批评，主要是在后殖民理论领域。然而，在社会学理论化的过程中，全球南方的定性研究的可见性仍然有限，他们很少系统地面对西方理论的经典。该网络由来自非洲、拉丁美洲、亚洲和德国的社会学家组成，其成员对社会学研究某些领域的研究成果和不同区域背景下的理论方法进行系统比较。因此，他们有助于反思社会学概念和理论的发展，并在德国社会学领域推进全球社会学的议程。我们专注于三个领域：健康，性别和性（1），家庭和传记（2）以及城市化，空间和建筑（3）。我们认为，这些领域特别容易从跨区域的理论视角以及区域的相似性和差异性来揭示社会变革的过程。该网络汇集了在全球南方社会进行研究的社会学家，他们专门从事一个或多个指定领域，并在理论上致力于全球社会学问题。在五个研讨会中，成员们讨论了以下问题：世界不同地区定性社会研究的差异和相似之处是什么？如何使不同的方法相互联系，使研究结果具有可比性？哪些概念和理论被证明是区域特定的，哪些是或多或少普遍适用的？哪些程序有助于构建和确定全球化带来的共同问题空间？哪些（非）西方理论方法具有超越其起源背景的解释潜力？西方和非西方的理论方法可以在哪些方面进行调整？社会学理论建构如何回应后殖民主义的挑战？

The network seeks to examine and strengthen the role of qualitative social research in societies of the Global South in processes of general sociological theory-building. The ongoing dominance of Western sociological theories has been thoroughly critiqued, chiefly in the field of postcolonial theory. However, the visibility of qualitative studies in the Global South in processes of sociological theorization is still limited and they are rarely systematically confronted with the canon of Western theories. Made up of sociologists from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Germany, the members of the network conduct systematic comparisons of research findings from selected fields of sociological research and of theoretical approaches from diverse regional contexts. Thereby, they contribute to the development of reflexive sociological concepts and theories and advance the agenda of global sociology in the German sociological landscape. We focus on three fields: health, gender and sexuality (1), family and biography (2) as well as urbanism, space and architecture (3). We assume that these fields are especially apt to reveal processes of social change from a transregional theoretical perspective as well as regional similarities and differences.The network brings together sociologists who do research in societies of the Global South, are specialized in one or more of the named fields and are theoretically committed to questions of global sociology. In five workshops, members address the following questions: What are the differences and similarities of qualitative social research in different world regions? How can different approaches be interlinked and research findings made comparable? Which concepts and theories turn out to be regionally specific and which ones as more or less universally applicable? Which procedures to construct and identify shared problem spaces, borne among other things by globalization, appear useful? Which (non)Western theoretical approaches have explanatory potentials beyond their context of origin? In which ways can Western and non-Western theoretical approaches be adapted? How does sociological theory-building respond to the postcolonial challenge?