“Human happiness is the primary measure of a successful society”

Concerns in current sociological research

Professor Bryan Turner began by presenting the current state of sociological research. According to him, the role of sociology is declining and does not meet the needs of modern society. The period of sociology of famous names such as Max Weber and Durkheim is considered the golden age of sociology. But now sociology is said to be losing its important role. Why is that? That is because since the 1950s, the US sociological system has become increasingly dominant and this system emphasizes quantitative models and the complexity of research models. However, the more complex the problems, the narrower the research perspective and the inability to reflect major issues. At the same time, there is a distinction between the US and Europe in sociological models. In the US, funding for sociological research is greater, but that is why their research often focuses too much on technical and quantitative issues. Meanwhile, in Europe, although funding is less, researchers often focus on qualitative perspectives rather than statistical and numerical discoveries.

According to Professor Bryan Turner, sociology today is too influenced by neo-liberalism, emphasizing too much on personal experience, individuality, and narrow issues such as identity, personality, and consumerism; while not paying attention to broader issues. For example, the Center for Sociology of the City University of New York currently has about 150 graduate students researching issues such as identity, sexuality, feminism, gender, and children. Among them, gender is considered the most important issue. But according to Professor Turner, this is not necessarily the only and dominant issue in sociology. Many issues that were dominant in the golden age of sociology such as class, inequality, justice, exploitation, and deindustrialization have received little attention recently. In addition, he believes that current sociological research also focuses too much on cultural studies, especially cultural issues from the perspective of media and postmodernism. This requires changes in the orientation of sociological research.

Professor Bryan Turner presents concerns in modern sociological research (Photo: Thu Ha)

Solutions to the concerns of modern sociology

So what is the solution to these problems? Professor Bryan Turner believes that there are many solutions to the above situation. He himself has founded three specialized journals to solve both classic and contemporary problems in sociology.

The first is the Journal of Citizenship Studies. According to Professor Bryan Turner, citizenship is a major, classic issue in sociology, related to political issues such as the state. For example, in Vietnam, there will be issues about citizenship such as the definition of citizenship in Vietnam. Citizenship reflects whether an individual is integrated into a society or isolated and separated from that society. Citizenship is also related to the issue of inequality and resource distribution in society. For example, citizenship will help counter market forces, promoting a more equal distribution of resources.

The second is the Journal of Classical Sociology. This journal receives many articles on great sociologists such as Karl Marx, Weber, Durkheim. These articles highlight the views, terms, and approaches of great sociologists of the past that are still valuable today. The Journal of Classical Sociology wants to arouse attention to these classic issues, authors, concepts, and ideas in modern sociology.

Third is the Journal of Religious Practice and Politics. This journal not only focuses on issues such as dogma and religion in general, but also on how people practice religion. The journal has two main concerns. The first is the practice of religion in the context of current religious diversity, the differences between religious practices in Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, Shintoism, etc. The second is the relationship between religion and politics, such as the issue of the relationship between Sunni and Shi'a Islam in the Middle East, the relationship between Buddhism and Islam in Myanmar, religious conflicts in Thailand, as well as the influence of Islam in Europe.

Meeting scene (Photo: Thu Ha)

Sociological research projects

In addition to the three journals mentioned above, Professor Turner is about to launch a research project entitled “Secularization, Contemporaryity and the Social Pluralism of Religion”. This project has the following main concerns:

The first is legal pluralism. Specifically, the project will focus on the issue of Islamic Law, also known as Sharia Law.

The second is social diversity. The main issues of concern are family, sexuality, same-sex marriage… Researching these issues will clarify the diversity in family and married life today.

Third is the crisis facing religious societies. There are many religious issues of concern in the current period, such as the presence of homosexuals in public spaces, or the debates between Protestant and Orthodox communities in many countries today.

Through the above concerns, this project will answer two main questions: What makes a society cohesive and successful? What makes human happiness, and what is the relationship between the fate of a society and human happiness?

According to Professor Turner, there are many criteria commonly used to evaluate the success of a society such as people's health, wealth and happiness. However, there are many other important criteria that are not paid attention to but also contribute greatly to the success of a society. For example, in many societies, citizenship is so strictly regulated that many members of society are marginalized such as minorities, migrants and refugees.

In short, the key issue of modern sociology is related to human happiness. Human happiness is also the main measure of a successful society. According to him, people are happy when they have the opportunity to develop and grow. But people cannot do that if society is not good.

Through this project, he will build a new research agenda for modern sociology. This agenda will focus on the problems of modern society but on the basis of applying classical perspectives and concepts in sociology. Originally, the project was intended to focus on societies, but Professor Bryan Turner has shifted the research object to cities.

Taking this opportunity, Professor Turner also proposed to Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh to implement a global research project. This project will apply criteria for evaluating the success of cities to answer questions such as: are Hanoi, Melbourne or New York successful cities in relation to other cities in the world? Through this project, scholars and sociologists will have the opportunity to exchange views and experiences with each other. Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh welcomed this proposal and said that this is a very important and interesting issue for sociological research.

Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh presents Professor Bryan Turner with a copy of the Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Photo: Thu Ha)

After the presentation, the staff, lecturers and students of the University asked many questions to Professor Bryan Turner related to issues such as the concept of happiness; President Obama's views and policies on gun sales and the reaction of the American people; the role of women in modern society; the issue of citizenship in sociological research; as well as the market economy and individual happiness.