The making of sociological thought: A cosmopolitan inquiry

Every year, thousands of students take courses on the theoretical foundations of sociology. Though they may not know it, they are participating in a process of disciplinary reproduction: particular core authors, texts, and ideas are defined as reference points for sociological debates. The boundaries of what does – and does not – count as a sociological question are set. Disciplinary fault-lines are subtly formed, and sometimes contested. While professional sociologists themselves carry out this process, and in many cases engage in theoretical debates about the meaning of terms such as "discipline," "classics," "canons," or "founders," they do so without detailed empirical knowledge of the very structures they are enacting. This paper will empirically investigate the institutional structure of sociological theory within Canada, Germany, and France examining its patterns, variations, sources, and consequences. In so doing, it will shed light on the social, political, and intellectual processes involved when academics shape and reshape their fields and disciplinary identities. More specifically, this paper will: * Identify continuity and change in the sociological canon from the 1950s to the present as expressed in the authors, texts, themes, and disciplinary narratives included in theory courses and textbooks in Canada, France and Germany. * Discover sources of variation in theoretical education from national, regional, institutional levels. * Understand subjective motivations driving the inclusion or exclusion of particular authors, texts, or ideas in sociological theory training. We will achieve our research objectives through analyses of textbooks. While theory holds a particularly cogent position in sociological education, the lessons learned from this study will provide valuable information for understanding how academics of any discipline understand, maintain and – sometimes – reform their canons. To these ends, the current paper examines the history and evolution of sociological thought across English, German and French-speaking sociology as a way to empirically examine the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline and its impact over how sociology is practiced across diverse settings. We specifically compare the textual coverage of theory textbooks in all three settings to identify continuity and change in the sociological canon from the 1950s to the present. We also examine the sources of variation between the three contexts to showcase who and what has impacted the sociological canon since its formation. Finally, we also consider the use and application of the textbooks in local Universities