Suchergebnisse

Immigration and American society -- Dominican Providence -- In a land of opportunities? -- Entering the mainstream? -- Upward mobility? -- American identities -- Transnational identities -- Panethnic identities -- Becoming American

There is a growing interest in decolonizing Sociology. Yet, there is no agreed upon definition of what this entails. In this essay I address two questions related to the decolonizing sociology effort. The first one is whether sociology has a mainstream and, if so, how can we describe it? In discussing this question, I also address the relationship between sociology and science. The second question is how do we go about decolonizing the discipline? I present the outlines of a proposal to decolonize sociology's methodologies and practices and I also discuss the differences between alternative approaches and the question of what labels should we use. I don't presume to have definitive answers to these questions. I offer these reflections as a contribution to the effort of rethinking sociology, a process that needs to be a collective endeavor.

El pensador afroestadounidense W.E.B. Du Bois no escribió sobre América Latina. Y, sin duda, el mundo cambió mucho desde su muerte en la década de 1960. Sin embargo, muchas de las cosas sobre las que pensó y a las que se enfrentó siguen estando ahí. La pregunta sobre quién es humano y sus investigaciones sobre las estructuras racializadas y neocoloniales del capitalismo y la colonialidad de las formas del conocimiento aportan una mirada que puede enriquecer la comprensión de la realidad latinoamericana. (José Itzigsohn, Nueva Sociedad)

El pensador afroestadounidense W.E.B. Du Bois no escribió sobre América Latina. Y, sin duda, el mundo cambió mucho desde su muerte en la década de 1960. Sin embargo, muchas de las cosas sobre las que pensó y a las que se enfrentó siguen estando ahí. La pregunta sobre quién es humano y sus investigaciones sobre las estructuras racializadas y neocoloniales del capitalismo y la colonialidad de las formas del conocimiento aportan una mirada que puede enriquecer la comprensión de la realidad latinoamericana. (José Itzigsohn, Nueva Sociedad)

Traducción del texto José Itzigsohn, "Class, Race, and Emancipation: The Contributions of The Black Jacobins and Black Reconstruction in America to Historical Sociology and Social Theory". The CLR James Journal, 19-1/2, 2013, pp.177-198. (DOI: 10.5840/clrjames2013191/211.) Traducción de Laura Judit Alegre, incluidas las citas bibliográficas. Publicación debidamente autorizada por la revista. Se respeta el sistema de citación de la edición original. Este texto tiene leves modificaciones propuestas por el autor del texto original.

The emergence of a transnational perspective has changed the study of immigration. Before the introduction of this analytical approach, the study of immigration assumed that migrants basically broke their ties with their countries of origin and that the processes of acculturation and assimilation of migrants to their new society were what mattered most. Transnationalism as a perspective has challenged these assumptions. A large number of studies have shown that migrants retain lasting ties with their countries of origin. The identities and social practices of migrants transcend national boundaries.

This article analyzes the emergence and the institutional structure of contemporary immigrants' transnational politics. It poses three questions: 1) How is transnational politics structured? 2) How can we explain the current emergence of transnational political linkages? 3) Who participates and who benefits from political transnationalism. The article focuses on the cases of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and El Salvador and argues that they share an institutional pattern of transnational politics in which there are three main actors: the state apparatus of the country of origin; the political parties of the country of origin; and migrant organizations in the country of reception. The article links the rise of this pattern of transnational politics to the need of the states of origin to guarantee the flow of remittances, the organization of immigrants in the country of reception, and the consolidation of competitive politics in democratic regimes. Although the analysis is based on the experiences of Latin American and Caribbean countries and their emigrants in the United States, the article argues that this institutional pattern may transcend this particular region.

Abstract
For too long, questions of racism and colonialism have not been part of historical sociology's understanding of modernity. Yet, a new generation of scholars has begun to address this, placing racism and empire at the center of their inquiries. This new generation looks to previously marginalized scholars for guidelines and inspiration. In line with this shift in historical sociology, this paper brings the work of W.E.B. Du Bois and other writers in the Black Radical Tradition to bear on longer-standing analytic and methodological debates: How do these authors allow us to think about theory-building and comparison? What is the goal of explanation? How should we approach archives and sources? Building on these insights, this paper explains how the work of Du Bois and the Black Radical Tradition provides a model for a new historical sociology, and a framework that allows us to see the connections between racism, colonialism, and modernity.