Congratulations to the Iranian Sociological Association for organizing this spectacular conference on “Social Thought and Sociology in the Middle East.” I know it has been several years in the planning and has required dedicated work. It reflects the ascendancy of the Iranian Sociological Association both at home but also in the profile of international sociology. The International Sociological Association is a proud sponsor of this long–awaited conference. We hope it will invigorate Iranian sociology but also plant the seeds of a regional association.

An impressive array of speakers and panelists has been brought together not only from

the Middle East but from other parts of the world. All of us have to be interested in the history and legacy of thought from this key region of the world that has produced so many important sociological thinkers from Ibn Khaldūn to Ali Shari΄ati. Moreover, the world needs to hear about the Middle East from its own sociologists. Social thought springing from the region needs to animate discussion across the planet. We encourage the participants of this conference to use ISA journals, forums, and its newsletter to disseminate ideas from Iran and other places in the Middle East.

The Middle East has been one of the more turbulent and unpredictable regions of the world and sociology faces especially profound challenges here – challenges to comprehend social processes within nations, but equally challenges to understand social processes that traverse nations. We might say that the Middle East, which embraces a vast array of political regimes and historic cultures, puts the possibility of global sociology on trial. Such a global sociology does not turn a particular sociology into a universal one, but emerges from a conversation among multiple sociologies, grounded in different nations and regions.

Such a global sociology requires a self-conscious reflection on our location in the world in appreciation of the limitations as well as social and national foundations of our knowledge. It also means that we have to be proactive in developing the civil societies that span the globe; it means that we have to partake in creating the very world which we study; it means we have to take the project of public sociology very seriously not just to defend society but also to develop and energize a global sociology itself. The papers at this conference point in all these directions.

Ever since Immanuel Wallerstein undertook his series of conferences on regional sociologies when he was President of the International Sociological Association (1994-98), we have been committed to elevating their importance. Indeed, it was his initiative that led to the creation of a Vice-President for National Associations in 2002. Tina Uys is the third Vice-President for National Associations. Her portfolio includes not just the promotion of national associations but also of regional associations which are important in their own right, but also as a supportive umbrella for weaker national sociologies.

In this regard we can draw inspiration from such regional associations as the Latin American Sociological Association (ALAS). For five tumultuous decades it has been at the center of pioneering , geographical rooted visions of sociology that have circulated around the globe. Throughout the period of dictatorships ALAS sustained communication across the continent and beyond, building a vibrant, engaged, and innovative sociology. It holds regional meetings every two years, bringing together thousands of sociologists in an exciting clash of views. This is just one inspirational story but there are countless others. I hope that this conference will initiate a new flourishing of sociology in the Middle East, building on its already rich and diverse traditions.

 

[1] President of the International Sociological Association