The World Paradigm: A New Proposal for Sociology

Abstract

In this article, I advance the formulation of a paradigm whose components have arisen inorganically in the sociological field in the Western Hemisphere since the beginning of the 21st century. This intellectual corpus, which I call the “World Paradigm” (WP), contains a scientific device structured on the basis of the dialectic between three principles: globalization, localization and historicization. The WP also has a critical and a political device, which, activated by the scientific device, would make it possible to recreate a dynamic designed to renew sociology’s commitment to social change. I present the central elements comprising the WP, distinguishing them from the levers supporting the already consolidated modern and postmodern paradigms.