Page 104 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

9781412934633-Chap-06 1/10/09 8:46 AM Page 75

RELATING AUTHORITY AND SOLIDARITY 75

moment in a narrative process of knowledge Using information from an empirical research
construction’. project in Brazil, I look at some basic charac-
In the following, I proceed first to a theo- teristics of a sample of NGOs in order to
retical discussion, and then to a brief empiri- suggest research questions that I believe
cal analysis in an attempt to deal with could help map out the new terms of interac-
ongoing changes in contemporary theory tion between state, market, and society.
and practice. Taking ideas and actions as The newly emerging image of the social
interwoven components of social processes, world constitutes a significant cultural trans-
I discuss a broad intellectual change and an formation. It has an impact on the constitu-
empirical institutional innovation as phe- tion of new social actors, and, at the same
nomena that mirror each other. At the theo- time, the latter affect the way society is
retical level, I look at the tendency to portrayed. It is not my purpose to suggest
approach society in ways that differ from old that one or the other influence takes prece-
established canons. I contend that the resur- dence. On the contrary, I want to stress the
gence of civil society in the public discourse, mutual impact at play between these two
the rise of new social movements, the emer- dimensions of analysis. I also want to draw
gence of cosmopolitan ideals are some of the attention to the fact that concepts are cultural
indications of transformations that have products, and, therefore, contextual factors
demanded new theoretical lenses for social deeply affect them. This means that the con-
scientists. At the same time, I do not ignore stant human attempts at redefining concepts
the fact that, while responding to social express our historicity: while accounting for
change, sociologists also contribute to shap- the changes that society experiences, we are
ing a new understanding of social life. at the same time shaping the future, or acting
At the empirical level, I focus on the world upon the reconstruction of society. In this
of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) sense, sociological theory responds to cogni-
as a phenomenon that somehow illustrates the tive as well as to moral concerns.
new image of society. I suggest that the ele-
vation of such organizations to the condition
of either partners or alternatives to authority
mechanisms points to a new way of framing THE CHANGED SOCIETAL MIRROR
the relationships between state and society.
While voluntary organizations, philanthropic The noticeable acceleration of global
initiatives, and other solidarity movements processes and the stunning revival of liberal-
are no novelty, there is something new when ism have had among their multiple conse-
social organizations are perceived as societal quences a deconstructing impact on the ways
manifestations vis-à-vis the state and/or the we used to conceive of society; they there-
market. It is not my purpose to prove that fore pose new challenges to the social
NGOs, or other civil society entities, are sciences. Under the general label of global-
expanding the amount of social solidarity ization, the world is experiencing economic,
one finds in society. My objective while com- political, social, and cultural transformations
bining theoretical reflections and empirical so rapid and encompassing that we still lack
investigation in the following text is not to clear concepts and definitions of what is
test hypotheses. Rather, I want to study taking place. Caught in the midst of such
NGOs because from the perspective empirical and intellectual changes, we social
of a sociology of knowledge, I take it for scientists experience at times an almost
granted that societal solidarity has become anomic situation, given that our basic tools or
a proper focus of analysis, in the same sense concepts for organizing ideas, formulating
that state authority and market interests have hypotheses, and elaborating theoretical
long been legitimate analytical perspectives. propositions appear to be inadequate.