South African Sociology during the eighties as mirrored in the South African Journal of Sociology

Abstract

Van Staden and Visser have done the contributors to the South African Journal of Sociology (SAJS) a favour by showing them in very vivid terms what they collectively conttibuted towards the development of sociology in South Africa during the eighties. The analysis of the contents of the SAJS reveals a distinct preference for review articles, little interest in the development of sociological theory as such, an alarming absence of methodological sophistication as far as empirical research is concerned and a sttong tendency towards intracultural in stead of cross-cultural research. Most of these are cause for grave concern about the state of sociology in South Africa and must be addressed in the nineties if South African sociologists wish to be taken seriously by their colleagues in the international sociological community.