Study of the Views on Language in Postwar Sociological Theories: In the Light of the Socio-Historical Background from the Emergence of National Society to its End

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H01564
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 08010:Sociology-related
• Research Institution: Kumamoto University
• Principal Investigator: Tada Mitsuhiro 熊本大学, 大学院人文社会科学研究部(文), 教授 (20632714)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 方法論的ナショナリズム / 言語社会学 / 国民国家 / 世界社会 / 知識社会学 / 社会学史 / グローバリゼーション / 国語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, I sought to clarify the views on language held by the leading postwar sociological theorists (Schutz, Parsons, Bourdieu, Habermas, Luhmann, etc.) and the social context in which they were formed. Broadly speaking, it became clear that normative theorists such as Parsons and Habermas took it for granted that people share the same language as a crucial medium, while Schutz, Bourdieu, and Luhmann, who theoretically kept their distance from national society, tended to relativize the theoretical position of language. Further research will continue to confirm this finding. During the total four years of this project (FY 2019-2022), I have published the results, including those on related topics, in four peer-reviewed papers in English (three of them in prominent international journals), two invited lectures at foreign universities, and one presentation at an international conference (also peer-reviewed).

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本課題では、これまでほとんど検討されてこなかった社会学理論の言語概念の内実、またその時代拘束性を明らかにした。従来、社会学理論の研究では、戦後の安定的な国民社会をモデルに、人びとが同じ言語を共有していると前提しがちであった。だがこの方法論的ナショナリズムは、昨今のグローバリゼーションで人の国際移動が活発化し、社会の言語的多様化が進む現実にフィットしていない。その点で本課題は、既存理論の再検討を通じて、その言語観の限界を克服し、マルチリンガル化する社会の統合につながる、社会学の新しい言語論の構築に寄与する。