Sociology and anthropology: The decline of difference in a globalized world?

This article examines how globalization processes have challenged the traditional distinction between sociology and anthropology. Historically, these disciplines have been differentiated by their origins, objects of study, methodological approaches, and analytical perspectives – sociology focused on ‘modern’ Western societies while anthropology studied ‘traditional’ non-Western societies. However, globalization has weakened the nation-state framework that has grounded sociology since its inception and eroded the ‘us/them’ dichotomy that separated the two disciplines. As global interconnectedness has intensified, the physical and conceptual boundaries between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ societies became increasingly blurred, particularly through transnational migration and shared global challenges. Both disciplines must transcend methodological nationalism and Western-centric perspectives, recognizing that all local realities reflect global dynamics. While a complete merger remains impractical due to institutional and academic considerations, this article argues that enhanced collaboration, mutual knowledge exchange, and integration of concepts between sociology and anthropology is both necessary and beneficial for understanding contemporary social phenomena in an interconnected world.