The Department of Sociology Holds a Consultation Workshop on Compiling an Indigenous Sociology Knowledge Handbook

To advance the development of an indigenous knowledge system in Chinese sociology, improve the compilation of the Sociology Indigenous Knowledge Handbook, and pool academic wisdom to enhance its quality, the Department of Sociology at our university recently invited Professor Huang Xiaoyan from Nankai University, Professor Lu Chuntian from Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Professor Wang Junbai from Jiangnan University to participate in an online consultation workshop dedicated to the handbook’s compilation. Core faculty members of the Department of Sociology at Nanchang University, along with members of the handbook editorial team, attended the meeting and engaged in in-depth discussions on the guiding principles, content framework, and practical pathways for compiling the handbook.

Professor Jiang Guoping extended a warm welcome and sincere gratitude to the three experts for their guidance. He introduced the preliminary framework of the handbook, highlighting its aim to balance theoretical depth with practical orientation, and to integrate local experience with a global perspective. He also outlined key challenges encountered during the compilation process, particularly regarding content selection and structural design, and expressed his hope that the experts would offer valuable insights and guidance.

During the consultation, the three experts, drawing on their respective research fields and academic experience, provided targeted recommendations. Professor Huang Xiaoyan emphasized that the handbook should foreground the “Chinese context,” systematically reviewing classical theories and practical achievements in the development of Chinese sociology, while also incorporating knowledge from applied fields such as social work and social policy. She suggested including more indigenous practice cases to enhance the handbook’s practicality and applicability, and stressed the importance of ensuring logical coherence and hierarchical organization to facilitate accessibility for diverse audiences.

From a methodological perspective, Professor Lu Chuntian proposed that the handbook should emphasize the integration of theory and methods. It should not only outline the core theoretical system of sociology, but also systematically present the application norms of mainstream research methods, such as quantitative research and empirical analysis. In addition, he recommended incorporating frontier perspectives, including the impact of emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence on sociological knowledge production, thereby reflecting the discipline’s contemporaneity and innovativeness and supporting the autonomous renewal of its knowledge system.

Professor Wang Junbai focused on the localization and systematization of knowledge in the handbook. He suggested strengthening the review and integration of the intellectual contributions of pioneering Chinese sociologists such as Pan Guangdan and Fei Xiaotong, highlighting the humanistic orientation and indigenous characteristics of Chinese sociology. At the same time, he emphasized balancing systematic rigor with readability, as well as academic depth with dissemination value, so that the handbook can support both scholarly research and practical needs such as grassroots social governance and talent cultivation. He also offered detailed suggestions on chapter structure and content selection.

Members of the editorial committee noted that the consultation workshop was highly productive. The experts’ recommendations were forward-looking, targeted, and actionable, effectively addressing key challenges in the compilation process, clarifying the overall direction, and refining the working approach. Moving forward, the editorial team will carefully review and incorporate the experts’ suggestions, further improve the handbook’s framework and enrich its content in light of the disciplinary strengths of Nanchang University. With a commitment to excellence, the team aims to produce a sociology indigenous knowledge handbook that is academically rigorous, practically relevant, and locally grounded, thereby contributing to the development of an indigenous knowledge system in Chinese sociology and promoting the high-quality development of the discipline.