The South African sociological community put aside past divisions in order to establish a new joint association in 1993. Constituted through a merger of the former Association for Sociologists in Southern Africa (ASSA) and the Suid-Afrikaanse Sosiologie Vereniging (SASOV), the newly established South African Sociological Association set itself three main goals, ie to
- promote the discipline and the profession of sociology
- promote research, teaching and debate about society
- promote cooperation at the national, regional and international level among persons engaged in the study of society
A new SASA council is elected at each annual general meeting of the association, which takes place during the annual conference in June or July of each year. Our 'Past conferences' and 'Past councils' pages provide more information.
For perspectives on sociology in South Africa, please read:
Alexander, Peter, Basson, Lauren and Makhura, Prudence. 2006. 'Sociology research in contemporary South Africa'. South African Review of Sociology 37(2): 218-40.
Alexander, Peter. 2004. ‘The National Research Foundation and priorities for critical research’. Society in Transition 35(2): 316-24.
Ally, Shireen. 2005. 'Oppositional intellectualism as reflection, not rejection, of power: Wits Sociology, 1975-1989. Transformation 59: 66-97.
Ally, Shireen, Mooney, Katie, and Stewart, Paul. 2004. 'The state-sponsored and centralised institutionalisation of an academic discipline: Sociology in South Africa, 1920-1970'. Society in Transition 34 (1): 70-103.
Burawoy, Michael. 2004. 'Public sociology: South African dilemmas in a global context'. Society in Transition 35 (1): 11-26.
Celliers, SP. 1984. 'The origins of Sociology in South Africa '. In Kellerman, APR (ed). 1991. SP Celliers: Selected Papers. Stellenbosch: Department of Sociology, University of Stellenbosch.
Hassim, Shireen. 2004. 'Feminism, nationalism and public sociology in South Africa'. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Hilton San Francisco & Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, California.
Jubber, Ken. 2007. 'Sociology in South Africa: A brief historical review of research and publishing'. International Sociology 22(5): 527-546.
Lever, Henry. 1981.'Sociology of South Africa: Supplementary comments'. Annual Review of Sociology 7: 249-262.
Rex, John. 1975. 'The Sociology of South Africa: A Review Article'. Journal of Southern African Studies 1(2): 247-252.
Sitas, Ari. 1997. 'The waning of sociology in South Africa'. Society in Transition 28(1): 1-4.
Sooryamoorthy, Radhamany. 2015. ‘Sociological research in South Africa: Post-apartheid trends’. International Sociology Review 30(2) 119–133.
Uys, Tina. 2005. 'Presidential address - Tradition, ambition and imagination: Challenges and choices for post-apartheid sociology'. Society in Transition 36(1): 113-120.
Webster, Edward. 2004. 'Sociology in South Africa: its past, present, and future'. Society in Transition 35 (1): 27-41.
Webster, Eddie. 1997. 'Democratic Transition: South African Sociology'. Contemporary Sociology 26 (3): 279-282.
Zaaiman, J. 2014. 'A brief history of sociology in South Africa' pp. 535-551 in Steward, P & Zaaiman J. Sociology A South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta