El debate sobre la prospectiva de las ciencias sociales en los umbrales del nuevo milenio

Abstract

THE INTERNATIONAL DEBATE ON THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL STATUS OF SOCIOLOGY VIS-À-VIS "NOMOLOGICAL" SCIENCES SEEMS TO AGREE THAT THERE ARE THREE FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS: 1) TO CRITICALLY REVIEW THE FIRST CENTURY OF LIFE OF SOCIOLOGY IN ORDER TO UNDERTAKE AN ADEQUATE DIAGNOSIS OF ITS CURRENT STATUS; 2) TO GO BEYOND THE NARROWLY LOCAL AND NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TO EXPLORE THE MAJOR WORLD TRANSFORMATIONS OF OUR TIME THROUGH THE CREATION OF A SOCIOLOGY OF GLOBALIZATION, AND 3) TO COUNTERACT THE EXCESSIVE FRAGMENTATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCES BY ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE THEIR UNITY AROUND A POINT OF CONVERGENCE, NAMELY HISTORY.