A History of Macedonian Sociology

This book is the first English-language monograph about the institutional development of sociology in (North) Macedonia. It maps and discusses the contexts, goals, and merits of the pioneering attempts for sociological research in the interwar period, early post-war educational and publishing politics, the institutionalization of sociology in socialist Macedonia in the course of the 1960s, its cross-national exchanges, as well as its major trajectories and debates up until the present days. Against the backgrounds of the political and intellectual histories of Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav Macedonia, it argues that the development of the sociological activities, themes, and arguments is entwined with the Macedonian nation- and state-building.

“This pioneering study on the three periods of Macedonian sociology amply demonstrates the critical potential of the discipline under changing political conditions as well as its fixation on what still may be called a Macedonian Question.” (Stefan Troebst, Professor Emeritus of East European Cultural History, Leipzig University, Germany)

“This meticulously crafted book invites you to explore the vicissitudes of Macedonian sociology. Delving into carefully reconstructed historical contexts and theoretical frameworks, it unveils the transformations of Macedonian social thought based on extensive original data. A unique resource for researchers and students, the book spans over a century of intellectual history in a compelling scholarly narrative.” (Marta Bucholc, Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, University of Warsaw, Poland)

“Synthesizing a large amount of diverse data, Trajanovski skillfully weaves the threads of history of a national sociology in the periphery of Europe. The book has something to offer to not only those working on the region of South East Europe, but also those interested in the history of ideas, especially the role of social scientific expertise in modernizing projects, as well as the contribution of intellectuals to nation-building, in the context of actually-existing socialism and postsocialist transformation.” (Ivana Spasić, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, University of Belgrade, Serbia)

“The book focuses on three issues—the history of sociological reflection (theoretical and empirical) in Macedonia, the dependence of social sciences on political climate and decisions, and how contemporary Macedonian sociology tried to become independent as a field of research and an academic discipline. It is mapping out the ways in which the University of Skopje tried to offer sociology courses to students of various faculties (geography, law, medicine) and simultaneously to create a field of sociological studies and research units. I was also reminded about my Macedonian colleagues and their efforts to go beyond Macedonia to overcome the sense of peripherality. They used the contacts within scientific organizations such as ISA and ESA, networks of francophone researchers, participation in research networks in the Balkans, and finally, organizing international sociological scientific conferences. That is why Naum Trajanovski's book is worth paying attention to and reading.” (Marian Niezgoda, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków)

“The writing of a history of Macedonian sociology is far from an easy task. The historical turbulences and the (ongoing) contestations of the Macedonian nation and language make it immensely hard to map the continuities of the national sociological thought, and the selection of the relevant topics, people, and institutions which contributed to its development. As a professor in political sciences and a former senior researcher at the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research in Skopje, as well as a direct witness and participant in the democratic transition of the state and the region, I see Trajanovski’s book as a unique and timely contribution to the history of Macedonian sociological ideas.” (Mirjana Maleska, Professor of Political Sciences, School of Doctoral Studies, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Skopje, North Macedonia)

“Naum Trajanovski’s book A History of Macedonian Sociology: In Quest for Identity provides a well-informed, analytical, and amazingly seamless history of Macedonian sociology. He neatly frames the Macedonian sociological developments in the 20th and the early 21st century as a continued pursuit of a disciplinary identity tightly connected with the deliberations about the groupist identities in the Macedonian society in formation.” (Ilo Trajkovski, Professor of Sociology, Institute of Sociology, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Skopje, North Macedonia)

Naum Trajanovski, an adjunct at the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Warsaw, holds a PhD in sociology from the Polish Academy of Sciences. In the past few years, he coordinated a research project about the history of the social survey in post-earthquake Skopje (1964–65) and authored and edited books about the Macedonian and Balkan sociology and politics of memory.