Seven stages of turbulent social history of the Romanian sociology

The authors propose a daring journey into the previously shaded past of Romanian sociology after 1944, based on an ambitious program supported by the Institute for Quality of Life Research and the Romanian Association of Sociologists, set off in 2006, called Romanian Sociological Publishing after 1944. In this paper, we identify six historical stages in the Romanian sociology’s development and also focus on its survival during communism and its evolution after communism. Each stage is presented in its historical context, and a prediction for the future of Romanian sociology is made at the end.

A new threat: bounded rationality produces monsters. A theory construction exercise

The present study has two objectives. First, it presents a fundamental hypothesis: the configuration of knowledge represents a determinant factor of many social facts. The entire structure is based upon the dichotomy certainty/uncertainty. Inside it we differentiate between irreducible certainty and reducible certainty. If we accept this typology, some very important arguments may be made and other explanatory opportunities may be created. Finally, we present an analysis which proves that the certainty/uncertainty situation generates different strategic options for social actors. Secondly, we propose an exercise for constructing a theory. To dramatize it, we present some so-called Propositions that are actually logically deduced hypotheses from the initial model. This endeavour should be viewed more as a challenge. I am convinced that sociology should, at this time, give more credit to building theories.

The crisis deepens through the measures meant to exit the crisis

The issues around the global economical crisis and its effects are currently under much attention. In this context, Professor Cătălin Zamfir opens the debate on the Romanian Crisis, initiated in the Social Innovation online Journal, by bringing to your attention the nature of our crisis and some directions for surpassing it.

The Romanian-Chinese seminar on social and economic development

The Romanian Academy received in June 2009 the visit of an official delegation of the Chinese Academy in social sciences. The visit set the scene for discussing the Impact of the economical crisis. The Chinese and Romanian experts presented their findings. Due to the importance of the data they presented, we selected one of the two papers: internal migration and the evolution of the middle class and we present it below.