Abstract
How should sociology, a science for modernization, innovate itself at this transitional period from modernism to postmodernism ? And what kind of roles can it play in the 21st century ?
Sociology is a science with the following features :
(1) It provides basic theories of human societies.
(2) It organizes information through social surveys and researches.
(3) It acts as a bridge between related disciplines and builds up their networks.
(4) It maintains a good balance in its methodology.
In the foreseeable future, every discipline will more and more be required to fulfill its social obligation and accountability as a “science for society and humanity.” Under this premise, sociology should work to help the various sciences collaborate with one another by fulfilling its role as a bridge and taking full advantage of its features. It should assume the role of core science in creating cross-disciplinary, integrated networks of accumulated knowledge in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Hence it is necessary for sociology to undergo changes in its viewpoints of history and social space.
