The Role of Sociology in Post-Socialist Transformation in Serbia

The main objective of this chapter is to examine the role of sociology in Serbian society over the previous three decades and how it has changed alongside changing global and local social contexts (especially those related to post-socialist transformation), shifts in dominant theoretical paradigms, and the changing status of sociology as a profession. The impact of sociology on the processes of post-socialist transformation can be explored at different levels: as a science, sociology produces scientific knowledge; as a profession, it builds its institutional infrastructure and organisational networks; as expertise, it offers applicable knowledge and makes a more or less direct impact on shaping public and other policies. In addition to this emergent level, sociology appears at the individual level as well: sociologists may act as academics, engaged intellectuals, educators, experts, politicians, journalists, civic activists, political analysts, and others. As a social formation, sociology, therefore, produces structures but also meanings and interpretations of the social world, creating material and cultural (ideological) forms. In analysing the role of sociology in Serbia, we will rely on the cultural political economy approach (CPE). The core of our analysis will be devoted to discourses on post-socialist transformation that circulated within the two most influential sociological journals in Serbia: Sociologija (Sociology) and Sociološki pregled (Sociological Review) and in other key works of Serbian sociologists, during the 1990–2018 period. In accordance with the CPE approach, we will address the issues of selection, retention, and possible reinforcement of certain discourses and rejection of other discourses.