The present text assumes a critical stance to examine the design of transnational systems of quality assessment through international rankings. First, different categories of ranking procedures are presented, namely, those known as League Tables (ARWU, THE, QS); and those centred on research outcomes (SCImago, Institutions Ranking). Next, after introducing their potential uses, we dialogically set these types of rankings against a series of risks worth considering. And last, we conclude by offering a reflection on the quality model reflected by each of them, and on their overall effects.

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O presente texto corresponde à versão escrita da aula magna proferida no Curso de Mestrado em Educação do Centro de Ensino Superior de Juiz de Fora, em 23 de Março de 2002. Trata-se de uma versão adaptada de um texto produzido no âmbito de uma pesquisa que interrogou as relações entre as políticas educativas nacionais e as organizações internacionais (TEODORO, 2001), integrada no projecto A Sociedade Portuguesa perante os Desafios da Globalização (1995-2000), dirigido por Boaventura de Sousa Santos.

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1Sociology of education makes contributions to the understanding of an important institution present in every society -education. In the following article members of the Board of the ISA Sociology of Education Research Committee, RC04, explore aspects of the field including theory, methods, emerging issues, stratification, inequalities in developing countries, politics of education and multiculturalism, educational assessment and accountability, peer group effects, school-to-work transitions, adult and lifelong learning, teacher supply, demand, status and morale, and social control. Attention is also paid to emerging issues in the sociology of education. Theory in the sociology of educationAs a major contributor to the field of sociology and to the testing of established theories, sociology of education plays a vital role in the continuing development of sociology. Émile Durkheim is generally considered to be the founder of the sociology of education, having provided a sociological conceptualization of education as a system that transmits society's culture and social order to new generations. The sociology of education also derives its conceptual and theoretical roots from the contributions of Marx and Weber. Marx laid down the foundations for conflict theory and later conflict theorists have explored the ideological role of the state in education as it reproduces and maintains class statuses. Weber developed a multidimensional approach in which structure, human agency, the material and the normative were combined.Building on this early foundation, several more recent directions have emerged. Among structural conflict theories, Pierre Bourdieu's (1984) theory of practice, Basil Bernstein's (1996) theory of language codes and Randall Collins's (1979) Weberian theory of social exclusion have had a major impact on contemporary sociology of education. According to Bourdieu's (1984) theory of praxis, the social world consists of the history of accumulation. Education as a part of social and cultural reproduction is linked to cultural capital (capital based on students' social settings and opportunities that provide knowledge of the world derived from live experiences) and subsequent social differences between students. Similarly, in Bernstein's 'code theory ' (1975) he explores the performance of working-class students and argues that socialization is based on class. The dominant school abstract Because education is an essential institution in society, the sociology of education must focus on an array of salient social issues, many with vital policy implications. Following a discussion of the various theoretical orientations and methods used by sociologists of education, this article, which was written by members of the Board of the Sociology of Education Research Committee (RC04), examines a selection of these significant and emerging issues.

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