A REVIEW OF CRITICS AGAINST THE CALL FOR INDIGENOUS SOCIOLOGY IN TURKEY

Abstract

The call for indigenous sociology is a discussion that reflects reactions to the Eurocentric character of Western sociology and alternative proposals. According to the advocates of this call, Western sociology, based on the social and historical experiences of Western societies, do not allow understanding non-Western societies that have different backgrounds from the West, and that it is also against their interests. It also creates intellectual dependence and inequalities not only in the global production of knowledge, but also in its distribution, circulation and consumption. Therefore, non-Western societies are called upon to build an indigenous sociology. No matter how solid it may sound, this call has also been subject to various criticisms due to some of its limitations. This paper aims to analyze and evaluate the criticisms of the call, which ironically turned into a global call, in the context of Turkish Sociology. The paper argues that the criticisms of this call should be reconsidered within the framework of four main questions: 1) How successful have the followers of the call been in constructing a sociology appropriate to the requirements of the call? 2) Do today's national and global conditions still make this call meaningful and necessary? 3) How does this call affect the disciplinary integrity and scientific identity of sociology? 4) What could be the future of the call? The paper concludes that indigenous sociology is not a utopia.

Keywords

• eurocentrism
• indigenization
• epistemic hegemony
• reconstruction of sociology
• global sociology
• indigenous sociology
• eurocentrism
• indigenisation
• epistemic hegemony