The Promise of John W. Meyer’s World Society Theory: “Otherhood” through the Prism of Pitirim A. Sorokin’s Integralism

The American Sociologist volume 51, pages 506–525 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Times of societal turbulence are painful for social theories tending towards optimistic accounts of the world. In the current sociological mainstream, so-called World Society Theory (WST), proposed by John W. Meyer and his colleagues, is one of the most contested examples. We discuss WST core conceptual assumptions with special emphasis on the concept of “Otherhood”, which receives limited attention in literature but is central for the “promise” of World Society Theory in times of multiple crises, associated with ongoing global pandemic and its expected consequences. Analyzing recent debates, we outline directions for World Society Theory further development. We argue that important contributions to WST scholarship may come from another “grand theory”, Integralism, elaborated by Pitirim Sorokin in middle twentieth century, which remains ignored in discussions about WST. Integralism, including its central concept of “Altruism”, may be helpful in comprehending ontological grounds of “Otherhood”, which may go beyond pure social construction. Integralism also allows expanding the analysis of causes, content, mechanisms and global macro-historical dynamics of “Otherhood”, stimulating its more nuanced comprehension, including theoretical and empirical distinction between its various types. Integration of Pitirim Sorokin ideas in debates about WST is important for its further elaboration, including its optimistic and, thus, highly valuable “promise” for the global world and related implications for the practical role that social science can play in global development.

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  1. 1.

    The Institute for World Society Studies, University of Bielefeld, Germany, https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/soz/iw/about.html

  2. 2.

    Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Agents, Actors, Actorhood: Institutional Perspectives on the Nature of Agency, Action, and Authority: Volume 58. Emerald Publishing Limited. https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/S0733-558X201958

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Acknowledgements

This article reflects my interpretation of J.W. Meyer’s ideas, expressed both in his publications and in informal discussions, in which I had the honor to participate. I am very thankful to both anonymous reviewers. I also express gratitude to Isak Froumin for inspiring debates. Finally, special thanks go to Lawrence T. Nichols for his very helpful support of my work on this paper.

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The paper uses the results of the project implemented under Basic Research Program at the NRU HSE (Academic Excellence Project ‘5–100’).

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  1. Institute of Education, NRU HSE (National Research University Higher School of Economics), Myasnitskaya str. 20, Moscow, Russian Federation, 101000

    Pavel S. Sorokin

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Sorokin, P.S. The Promise of John W. Meyer’s World Society Theory: “Otherhood” through the Prism of Pitirim A. Sorokin’s Integralism. Am Soc 51, 506–525 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-020-09468-8

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Keywords

  • World society theory
  • Integralism
  • Otherhood
  • Altruism
  • Global societal dynamics
  • Crisis