Stavit Sinai

Published: Jul 31, 2019 by Journal of Classical Sociology [In print: Volume 20 Issue 4, November 2020]
Authors: Stavit Sinai
Subjects: Sociology, Philosophy

The article offers a critique of the multiple modernities thesis which challenges Eisenstadt’s understanding of diverse cultural contexts and their localized institutional constellations on account of its dualistic division into two levels: the intangible (ontological visions or culture) and the tangible (structure or system) by which it seeks to account for the plurality of modern societies.

Published: Jan 17, 2017 by National Identities
Authors: Stavit Sinai
Subjects: Sociology & Social Policy

BOOK REVIEW Nationalism and multiple modernities. Europe and beyond, by Atsuko Ichijo, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 152 pp. ISBN 978-1-137- 00874-9

By: Stavit Sinai

By: Stavit Sinai
Subjects: Philosophy

The execution of Socrates at the hands of the Athenian democracy and the philosophical reactions to it have formed what is known as western thought. Despite the profound beauty of this philosophy, to be able to rebel against its deeply entrenched oppressive mechanisms that dominate contemporary everyday lives one must first learn it.

In my introductory course to Plato, we explore questions like How can something BE and NOT BE at the same time? What are the psychological dynamics involved in getting a person to focus attention on first principles rather than on the titillating fascinating particulars that absorb us most of our lives? What is Plato's perception of justice, time, love, and virtue - and how do they all relate to Plato's moral absolutism?

This course was and is taught at Spandau's community college in Berlin since Autumn

2018. Feel free to join me in this intellectual journey

By: Stavit Sinai
Subjects: Sociology, Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice

Hi fellow sociologists!

You are all welcome to join my talk about Sociology & Settler-colonialism and my book at the upcoming #Isaforum2021 

See you at the conference! 

Sociological knowledge is the product of the epistemological conditions under which it is constructed. It bears the potential of reproducing categorical distinctions that reflect structural inequalities, just as it has the power to deconstruct existing hegemonies by means of critical inquiry.

The talk investigates the relationships between sociology and settler-colonialism/apartheid, and raises the question of what validity can be attributed to the study of societies in the context of maintaining domination through institutionalized oppression over colonized populations?

An examination of S. N. Eisenstadt’s multiple modernities thesis shows that despite the attempt to provide a cosmopolitan, inclusive, comparative conceptualization of modernity, the empirical application of the thesis to the case of Israel not only reproduces ethno-essential distinctions which govern the Zionist political culture but also turns to a denial of the very colonial premise on which this culture is based. Analyzing the multiple modernities thesis with regards to the national social imaginaries in which it developed exemplifies the Janus-faced character of historical sociology and furthers a discussion about the urgency of decolonizing the social sciences.

By: Stavit Sinai
Subjects: Philosophy, Sociology & Social Policy, Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice

My paper The analytical incoherence of the multiple modernities thesis was recently published in Vol 20, Issue 4, 2020 of the Journal of Classical Sociology and is now available in print. 

The analytical incoherence demonstrates my scholarly approach, where I criticize contemporary social theories, such as the dominant multiple modernities thesis, through the lens of classical philosophy. In applying Aristotle's critique of Plato's metaphysical scheme, I expose current errors in contemporary social thought. In short: The social science can't reinvent the metaphysical wheel. 

You are welcome to read and comment on the paper in the link below or to send me a request for a copy.