China Social Science Review

No.2, 2024

Digitalization and Epochal Changes of Sociology

(Abstract)

Qiu Zeqi

The essence of digitalization lies in the principle that everything can be digitized, which implies humanity may eventually become a digital society. This shift presents sociology with two critical challenges: whether sociology can accurately depict and interpret digital society, and if it cannot, whether it retains any value as a discipline. For decades, sociology has been continuously exploring the digital society, yet research topics remain fragmented, and methodologies require innovation, indicating a significant gap from achieving digital humanities and social sciences intelligence. In an era marked by historic changes in both phenomena requiring characterization and explanation and the research materials available, sociology itself faces a pressing need for methodological and theoretical transformation. In a digital society composed of physical populations, digital populations, and machine intelligence, the means by which sociology generates knowledge and serves society are undergoing disruptive reform.