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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Philosophy and Social Theory

Philosophy and Social Theory is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 1.7k research works in it since 1954. 11.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores power dynamics, societal structures, and resistance, drawing from historical, colonial, and gender perspectives. It delves into the works of Foucault, examining biopolitics, education, and the impact of power on individuals and communities.

  • Foucault
  • Power
  • Society
  • History
  • Resistance
  • Gender
  • Colonialism
  • Violence
  • Education
  • Biopolitics
Research works
1.7k
fractional, since 1954
In the world top 10%
184
per year above
Top-10% rate
11.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+10%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
France
58% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Philosophy and Social Theory

Which countries lead Philosophy and Social Theory research?

By volume, France and Brazil publish the most (202 and 41 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 France 202 works
  2. 2 Brazil 41 works
  3. 3 Spain 26 works
  4. 4 Canada 17 works
  5. 5 United States 13 works
  6. 6 Belgium 12 works
  7. 7 ?? 11 works
  8. 8 Argentina 10 works
  9. 9 Italy 9 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 8 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

France: 57.8%Brazil: 11.8%Spain: 7.6%Canada: 4.8%6 others listed: 18.0%58%largest
France202 · 57.8%Brazil41 · 11.8%Spain26 · 7.6%Canada17 · 4.8%6 others listed63 · 18.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Philosophy and Social Theory research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Philosophy and Social Theory research, followed by Université de Lyon and Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 59 works
  2. 2 Université de LyonFrance 8 works
  3. 3 Université Toulouse - Jean JaurèsFrance 7 works
  4. 4 Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques PréventivesFrance 7 works
  5. 5 Université de PoitiersFrance 6 works
  6. 6 Université Bordeaux MontaigneFrance 5 works
  7. 7 Sorbonne UniversitéFrance 5 works
  8. 8 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneFrance 5 works
  9. 9 Université de StrasbourgFrance 5 works
  10. 10 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 5 works

Who are the leading researchers in Philosophy and Social Theory?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Philosophy and Social Theory include Michel Foucault, Bruno Latour and Judith Butler.

  1. 1 Michel Foucault France 208k citations
  2. 2 Bruno Latour France 129k citations
  3. 3 Judith Butler United States 116k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Philosophy and Social Theory?

The most cited paper in Philosophy and Social Theory is "A Genealogy of Homo-Economicus: Neoliberalism and the Production of Subjectivity" (Jason Read, 2009), with 601 citations. Next come "Foucault on Freedom and Truth" (465) and "Michel Foucault: Surveiller et punir. La naissance de la prison, Editions Gallimard: Paris 1975, 318 S. (dt. Überwachen und Strafen. Die Geburt des Gefängnisses, Suhrkamp: Frankfurt 1976, 397 S.)" (426).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A Genealogy of Homo-Economicus: Neoliberalism and the Production of Subjectivity Jason Read · Foucault Studies Open access Feb 2009 601
2 Foucault on Freedom and Truth Charles Taylor · Political Theory May 1984 465
3 Michel Foucault: Surveiller et punir. La naissance de la prison, Editions Gallimard: Paris 1975, 318 S. (dt. Überwachen und Strafen. Die Geburt des Gefängnisses, Suhrkamp: Frankfurt 1976, 397 S.) Markus Schroer · Klassiker der Sozialwissenschaften Book chapter 2016 426
4 Surveillance of the worlds of tourism: Foucault and the eye-of-power Keıth Hollınshead · Tourism Management Feb 1999 244
5 Sur la rigidit� impos�e par la longueur des g�od�siques Ren� Michel · Inventiones mathematicae Feb 1981 159
All 105 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Philosophy and Social Theory research done?

The largest centres of Philosophy and Social Theory research in 2022-now are Paris (France), Lyon (France), Toulouse (France) and Madrid (Spain). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Paris.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 ParisFrance 67 works
  2. 2 LyonFrance 11 works
  3. 3 ToulouseFrance 10 works
  4. 4 MadridSpain 10 works
  5. 5 São PauloBrazil 7 works
  6. 6 BordeauxFrance 7 works
  7. 7 NanterreFrance 7 works
  8. 8 MetzFrance 7 works
  9. 9 PoitiersFrance 6 works
  10. 10 RennesFrance 6 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ParisFR · 66.9 works20×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Philosophy and Social Theory than the world average.

See Philosophy and Social Theory on the map

Where is the best place to study Philosophy and Social Theory?

Among universities, judged by research, Université de Lyon score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Université de LyonFrance 10.010.1%38.6×8 +66.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Philosophy and Social Theory, country by country

Is Philosophy and Social Theory research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Philosophy and Social Theory.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Philosophy and Social Theory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0013% in 2024.

still counting0.0010%0.0020%0.0030%Philosophy and Social Theory0.0021% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Philosophy and Social Theory over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Philosophy and Social Theory9.5% in 202520102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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