594
PARTISAN REVIEW
The anti-first world ethos of the Association should not be surprising,
given the fact that participants from everywhere tend to bask in liberal slo–
gans, pay homage to internationalism in scientific contributions that decry the
positivism which "reigned" in the 1950s and 1960s - blaming those Ameri–
can theorists who founded the ISA and supplied the intellectual bases for on–
going theoretical disagreements. This is not to say that American sociologists
were altruistic, or that they furthered internationalism only in order to spread
democratic ideas. After
all,
they acquired international reputations that stood
them in good stead in their universitites and associations at home. In any
event, over the past thirty years the ISA increasingly has been dominated
by non-Western ideology, although other first world sociologists - from
Sweden, West Germany or Italy - manage more or less to hold their own.
To some extent their image is secured by the fact that for them as well
English is a foreign language. But the issue is more complicated, since Indians,
for instance, also speak English better than any other language and would be
as lost in Spanish as the majority ofAmericans. In fact, one Indian scholar
explained that "we must come to terms with the fact that in these post-colo–
nial times English has become the most popular language." To mollify the
native protesters, he suggested that we ought to have resumes in Spanish. So
far as I know, only Alain Touraine, who is at home in French, English and
Spanish, gave his paper in
all
three languages - at which point some admired
his skills and others were annoyed that he took too much time.
Professor Oommen skirted the issue by stating that in the future the
organizing committee would meet between Congresses, and that he would
set up a fund for third world participants and non-convertible currency coun–
tries. Even
if
he is successful, could this bridge the gaps separating national,
personal and professional interests and ideologies? Arthur Meier, the East
German Chairman of the Program Committee, thought that the theme of this
congress, "Sociology for One World - Unity and Diversity," would encour–
age collaborative investigations of the new dynamics of "globalization" that
transcend conventional boundaries and bring about "cosmopolitan under–
standing." But so far as I know, this was the aim when the ISA was founded.
The large studies of industrialization and modernization that were so popular
in the 1950s and 1960s, and which some now put forth as culprits responsi–
ble for "American domination" - however ill-conceived or naive - did expect
to prove that ultimately our world would become one. Furthermore, as a
West German participant whispered to me, whatever Parsons, Goode, and
the other "functionalists" did wrong, Americans after the Second World War
did
help to institutionalize democracy in Germany and a few other countries.
Margaret Archer, the outgoing President, spoke of the fresh agenda
required by the newly emerging international order, and of the need to
"mobilize Humanity itself as one self-conscious agent." Sociologists addressed
these problems from their various theoretical perspectives. Sessions were
