Contemporary social theory assignment”

New Faculty Interview: Ronjon Paul Datta – Assistant Professor, Social Theory and
Cultural Studies
On Thursday November 12th Dr. Ronjon Paul Datta paid a visit to the Intermedia
Research Studio to talk flora/fauna and speak candidly about connections between his
own life and social theory .
Interview by: Andriko J Lozowy (Sociology – PhD Student, Take Editor).
Take. Why don’t you start by speaking broadly about your where you are coming from
and where you are going?
RPD. ‘Wheels turning’.
…these days that seems like a very difficult question to answer having spent the past
three years moving about a fair bit! It is a bit easier to answer that question intellectually;
the predominant reference points of my sociology stem from the Durkheimian tradition
(e.g., Bataille), structural Marxism and Foucault. My sociology is quite Durkheimian;
Durkheim’s work for me remains a continual stimulus for a range of questions.
Take. How about, most over-rated theorist?
RPD. George Ritzer, primarily because Ritzer’s concept of “McDonalization” seems to
get dropped into all kinds of conversations. Perhaps “most-overrated” is a bit unkind.
Theoretical work is difficult and at least he has sought to make his work accessible and
comprehensive, even if I find that his interpretations of many theorists seem to miss the
nature of the interventions being made. I think it is very unfortunate that theory in
general is so often poorly regarded; theorising ought to be encouraged as a way to
imagine viable possibilities. An example might be helpful here. While in Toronto several
years ago I found myself working for a friend who bought into his father’s mechanical
and process systems business. At the time I had three degrees and occasionally I would
get questions like ‘Don’t you find it odd to be a social theorist working in the trades?’
People considered it strange that I was earning a living from a trade, considering my
education. That said, what I found was that mechanical and process systems can be
thought of on many levels. It’s one thing to know how to assemble some pipe, install a
large press, tie into a pipeline, etc., and it’s a whole other thing to conceive of the overall
process in terms of systems, and to design contingency plans. It is a skill of theory to
conceptualise the interconnectedness and degrees of dependence amongst discrete
components beyond the empirical and even beyond the practical. It is one thing to know
how to do it and another thing to know why a job should be done one way, as opposed
to another. All of the best people I worked with, from engineers to electricians and
hydraulics mechanics were fine theorists, able to think through problems and solutions in
a thorough, creative and timely way.
Take. I overheard that you play in a band?
RPD. The latest was a bar-band in Windsor. I play keys. I absolutely love it! We played
quite a range of material from Bill Withers and Feist, to Cold Play, Bonnie Rait, Stevie
Wonder and Nina Simone. It was great developing our sound and approach to
interpreting music. There’s a theory story here too! I quit classical piano at 9yrs old; I
dreaded it. I learned a few basic techniques before I quit. But, this training was just
enough to allow me to re-discov