Reactions and Responses from "Transnational Sociology" and the Related Social Sciences vis-a-vis the Changing Globalizing World at the Beginning of the 21^<st> Century : Series: Essays on Transnational Sociology, VI

P(論文)One of the author's major concerns in Trans-national Sociology has been how to build it up as an integrating discipline in social sciences, equipped with values, goals, theory, and methodology, bridging the academic society and the real world, for the purpose of uniting our human efforts to make this world more agreeable and more desirable to live in for all folks on earth in the proximate future. In the previous article published about a year ago, the author extracted some provisional common global goals from seven important books in the late 20^ century literature on Social Sciences: his temporary conclusion is that we, people of every corner of the planet should strive to achieve an equitable world in all fields where people can live with simple, modest, and humane hearts. Now the author confronts another problem. After seeing the September llth terrorist attacks in the opening of the 21^ Century and in face of the ever rapidly changing globalizing world thereafter, he has an urge to grasp quickly how some of the social scientists of nowadays, especially in the fields of sociology as well as in international relations, have reacted to and explained this present world of transformation. The author's aim is not so much in interpreting correctly the present global situation, (though he admits the importance of it,) as in finding some hints in the present social sciences that would be conducive to the reconstruction of the Transnational Sociology he has been exploring for the past ten years. Therefore, this article has adopted the form of an overview of the books arbitrarily chosen by the author. All of the following seven books selected (to which the author has referred in this article,) were published in Japan in the 21^ Century. (It is true some of the original editions had been published before September 11^.) Viewed in total, the author has found in these books many fascinating revelations of the changing world scenes with some efforts in constructing theoretical frameworks in certain fields of study as well as in refining terminology concerning globalization and its accompanying concepts. He, therefore, admits these are positive contributions both to International Relations and to Sociology. As he was reading these works of the present day social sciences, however, he felt something was lacking, something very important. The author is now aware that most modern social scientists, even at this stage of the 21^ Century, may consider themselves as analyzers of the past and the present world, the future being uncertain and unpredictable. On the other hand, the author has, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, been struggling to construct a more agreeable and more desirable world in future, offering some basic framework of Transnational Sociology. After the review of the contemporary literature, he may feel some significance in his academic position in the Social Sciences, though he admits his Transnational Sociology is at a rudimentary level. Concluding this abstract, the author would like to invite other social scientists, partially for that last reason, to join in this effort of constructing the future together in a more refined way, apart sometimes from important elaborations of how to analyze the past and the present.departmental bulletin pape