Global Sociology focuses on the globalization of society, which has accelerated since the end of the Cold War under the umbrella of the liberal world order. The globalized society and its underlying cultural ideology are currently facing significant pushback on both global and national scales, exacerbated by natural and human crises that transcend national borders.  GS aims to gain a better understanding of these contestations and their consequences. More specifically, our research seeks to untangle the contradictory dynamics of global cultural processes within the evolving liberal global order, and unveil how they shape the worldviews, orientations, and conduct of citizens and states, ultimately impacting societal governance and well-being.  Importantly, the internal inconsistencies of globalized scripts that generate conflict and change are brought into focus.

Against this backdrop, the group’s core research program is structured around three key analytical nodes: 1) the global institutionalization and diffusion of cultural frameworks and prescriptions of society; 2) their enactments and contestations by individuals, organizations, and states in comparative and beyond Western contexts; 3) the consequences of these enactments and contestations for societal and individual outcomes.

Starting from a macro-sociological and neo-institutionalist perspective, GS conducts empirical research in a number of fields (including climate change, science, higher education, and global health).  The group follows a methodological pluralism, combining advanced quantitative methods including multilevel modeling (MLM), large-scale experimental surveys, and computational text analysis, with case studies and documentary and interview data.