Journal of Sociology in the Global South

Volume 1 Issue 1 (April 2026) of the Journal of Sociology in the Global South (JSGS) brings together a set of articles that reflect the journal’s commitment to advancing context-sensitive and critically grounded sociological inquiry from the Global South. The contributions move across interrelated themes of religion, education, culture, and political life, each rooted in the Indonesian experience while engaging broader theoretical conversations. The re-examination of Gus Dur’s cosmopolitan Islam foregrounds an ethico-sociological response to pluralism, while the study on Soekarno positions education as a strategic ideological instrument in postcolonial nation-building. In parallel, the integration of Kalosara and Christian education offers a cultural-theological model of transformational leadership grounded in local wisdom. The analyses of conflict management in a women’s religious study group and the political role of Islamic Religious Education teachers further extend the discussion into everyday institutional practices, organizational communication, and democratic negotiation in plural societies.

What connects these contributions is a shared effort to reposition local knowledge, lived realities, and historically situated experiences as valid sources of sociological theorization. Rather than simply presenting empirical findings, the articles engage in conceptual work by reframing cosmopolitan Islam, educational politics, ethno-theological leadership, and community-based conflict management as productive analytical frameworks. In doing so, this issue not only aligns with the intellectual direction of JSGS but also demonstrates its relevance in contributing to global sociological debates. It offers both theoretical refinement and practical insight, while reinforcing the importance of southern epistemologies in addressing persistent challenges such as inequality, pluralism, and social cohesion.