研究问题与历史的回归——《21世纪资本论》对社会学研究的启示

Returning to Substantial Research Questions and History:The Sociological Implications of Capital in the Twenty-first Century

法国学者皮凯蒂的《21世纪资本论》在全球学术界掀起了热烈讨论,但是很多讨论都集中在经济学领域,社会学领域的讨论相对而言较少。不可否认的是,皮凯蒂的研究与社会学的主流议题存在契合,其关于社会不平等机制和阶层分析的研究同时也是社会学关注的重要主题。尤其是在方法论上,当代社会学不断强调发挥社会学的想象力,以及研究实践向历史纬度的回归。皮凯蒂将历史带入经济学的研究,这种做法值得引起社会学的重视。本文尝试探讨《21世纪资本论》对社会学研究的启示。面对社会科学过度数理化的窘境,皮凯蒂揭示了聚焦正确问题的重要性。这种长时段的量化研究,不仅为社会变迁研究提供了参照,亦为我们在历史情境中理解数据和方法提出了要求。

Recently, Thomas Piketty and his Capital in the Twenty-first Century have become hot top- ics in the academic community around the world. However, most of the discussions are centered on eco- nomics. Sociological discussions are relatively rare. Undoubtedly, social inequality and social class ana- lyzed by Piketty are typical research areas of sociology. Piketty＇s research overlapped with mainstream so- ciological issues. Moreover, methodologically, as contemporary sociology increasingly advocates the use of sociological imagination and the return to history, the combination of history and economics in Piketty＇s study represents a valuable reference for sociologists to consider their methods. This paper attempts to dis- cuss the sociological implications of Piketty and his work. Piketty＇s research reveals the importance of fo- cusing on right questions. The long-term quantitative studies present a notable reference. It also requires us to have a historically contextualized understanding on data and methods.