Department of Theoretical Sociology

About us: The Department of Theoretical Sociology conducts research devoted to the analysis and development of theories and conceptual frameworks for understanding social phenomena. The results of its work provide the foundation for empirical research.

A part of the research interests of the Department’s members concerns the theorisation of such contemporary processes and challenges as: the formation of an algorithmic society, the development of radicalism and populism, the climate crisis, and the contemporary dimensions of nostalgia.

Another area of research is the relationship between theoretical sociology and social history, including in the context of the Holocaust and its legacy, the development of forms of discipline and biopolitics, as well as the expansion of capitalism and the process of commodification.

Yet another strand of analysis is a reflection on traditional and contemporary theories and concepts, with particular emphasis on the work of Zygmunt Bauman, Anthony Elliott, Rainhard Kosselleck, Michel Foucault, Bronisław Malinowski, Georg Simmel, and members of the Warsaw School of Historians of Ideas.

Examples of research projects:

– Dariusz Brzeziński (PI), Contemporary Dimensions of Nostalgia: Towards a New Theoretical Framework, 2022-2026

– Andrzej Gniazdowski (PI), Phenomenology of the State. A Critical-Historical Introduction, 2021-2025

Currently working members:

– Dr hab. Dariusz Brzeziński, prof. IFiS PAN  (Head of the Department)
– Dr hab. Andrzej Gniazdowski, prof. IFiS PAN
– dr Gabriel Klimont-Jaroszukski, adjunkt