Cultural sociologist

Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo

I am a Professor of Sociology and the immediate past Dean of the School of Arts at the University of Ghana.  Moreover, I am a Visiting Professor at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada.  As a Sociologist of Culture and of Religion, I am keenly interested in African Social Thought, alternative conceptual categories, and migration. I have published in these areas and am the recipient of several awards and grants, including a Visiting Fellowship on Religion and Public Culture at the University of Cambridge, and the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (CADFP).
My interest in global sociology is steeped in a great desire to examine historical realities related to the production of knowledge. Ibn Khaldun’s marginal position in the historical narrative concerning his contribution to the development of sociology, the general denial of the production of knowledge in Africa and the tacit superimposing of the European university’s pre-eminence as the foundational university, whereas ancient universities predating the European model existed in Africa, are some of the reasons why I am engaged in global sociology. History is fundamental to sociology and the historical narrative method contributes to confronting the Eurocentric view which sociological discourse has venerated since the 19th century. Global sociology presents me with the opportunity to delve into the conceptualization of critical categories of any society. More significantly, the work of the Globalizing Sociological Theory Network empowers me to leverage this platform by engaging with scholars to enter into debates on these questions and elaborate my ideas in the global sociological discourse.