The Routledge International Handbook of the Histories of Sociology

The Routledge International Handbook on the Histories of Sociology starts from a simple but powerful conviction: there is not one history of sociology, but a multitude of histories written in different parts of the world, from diverse standpoints, and through different theoretical and methodological lenses.

Bringing together 20 scholars from 11 countries, the volume challenges dominant narratives about the discipline’s key figures, locations, and topics, and advances a programme of feminist and postcolonial rewriting. Organized in two complementary sections, the Handbook combines methodological reflection with substantive historical analysis. The first section develops theoretical and methodological strategies for writing and rewriting disciplinary histories, while the second presents original regional and transnational studies of sociology across Africa, South and East Asia, South and Central America, Russia, and beyond – alongside critical reflections on colonial entanglements, canon formation, and knowledge circulation.

Framed by a shift “from canon to connection,” the volume reimagines disciplinary history as a relational and pedagogical resource rather than a fixed archive of classics, thus setting the research agenda for the years to come. Designed for researchers, instructors, and both undergraduate and graduate students, it provides historical depth, theoretical orientation, and methodological inspiration, encouraging readers to approach the histories of sociology as an open, contested, and collective endeavour.