Realismul critic: o luptă pe două fronturi. Ştiinţele sociale şi câmpul puterii în sociologia lui George Steinmetz
Critical realism: a battle on two fronts. Social sciences and the field of power in George Steinmetz’ sociology

Summary/Abstract: During the last few decades, there have been numerous voices coming from the social sciences community who are advocating for a new approach to the study of society in order to give a relevant answer to a set of important questions such as: What is the relationship between applied and theoretical sociology? Can they operate independently? Is there interdependence between historical events, state structures and social disciplines? If so, how can we empirically identify said interdependence and to what extent can it become an object of study for the social sciences? Furthermore, which of the social disciplines is better qualified to study this interaction? What role does interdisciplinarity play in today’s scientific research? Where can we localize it, at the margin of the traditional disciplines or in a common interdisciplinary space? The American sociologist George Steinmetz (b. 1957), social theorist and historical sociologist of colonialism and imperial states, has tried to give an answer to these questions. Well versed in European philosophy and historiography, with studies in Germanic philology and several research internships in France and Germany, Steinmetz is a sociologist with a „panoramic” intellectual training, which allows him to approach the study of the states from a new and complex perspective, operating on two fronts. On one hand, he draws the guidelines of a new theoretical framework for the interdisciplinary research of imperial states, and on the other hand, he applies this theoretical and methodological system to his own empirical research in the field of historical sociology. This paper proposes a monographic study of George Steinmetz’ research, tracing the main stages of his intellectual journey and outlining the elements of novelty he brings to the social sciences.

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