Scholar Activism and the History of Sociology:
Celebrations, Critiques, and Futures Past
August 4-5, 2021
**A Virtual Symposium and Publication Opportunity**
https://princeton.zoom.us/j/95696385055
Sponsored by the ASA Section on the History of Sociology & Social Thought New Voices Initiative,
With co-sponsorship of a thematic issue of The American Sociologist intended to highlight the work being done
by new voices in the field.
Program
Wednesday, August 4, 2021:
Opening remarks: 2:45 - 3:00 PM EDT
Panel 1: Scholar Activism (Specific Scholars): 3:00 - 4:15 PM EDT
Jonas Grahn - “Left Alternatives to Gunnar Myrdal’s Work on Race Relations in the US”
Nicolás Eilbaum - “The Immigrant Sociologist: Paul Siu at Chicago”
Manisha Desai and Rianka Roy - “Scholars Denied: The Theoretical Praxis of Savitribai Phule and the
Women Activists of Satya Shodhak Samaj (Truth Seeker Society)”
Ning Yang - “A Post-Pandemic Revisit to Foucault’s Notions of Resistance and Body”
Discussant - Margaret Walkover, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Panel 2: Scholar Activism (Movements): 4:30 - 5:45 PM EDT
Harry Murray - “Unlikely Activists: Sociologists and the Catholic Worker Movement”
Louis Edgar Esparza - “The Study of 20th Century Movements”
Jan Marie Fritz - “Clinical Sociology: Activist Scholar-Practitioners in the US and South Africa”
Discussant - Laura Ford, Bard College
Thursday, August 5, 2021:
History of Sociology Leadership Panel: 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM EDT
Jill Niebrugge-Brantley, Pat Lengermann, Kevin Anderson, Paul Joosse
Panel 3: Tracing the Field: 12:30 - 1:45 PM EDT
Cynthia Guzman, Dan Silver, Lars Döpking, and Lukas Underwood - “The Making of Sociological Thought – A Cosmopolitan Inquiry”
Timothy Black - “Writing Backwards to Move Forward: Centering Critical Sociology”
Justin Huft: “Sociology of Therapy”
Discussant - Stefan Bargheer, Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Denmark and University of California (UCLA), USA
Panel 4: Looking Forward: 2:00 - 3:15 PM EDT
Rose M. Brewer - “Transformational Scholar Activism: A Radical Sociological Alternative”
Endia Louise Hayes- “Haunting as Method: Notes on Sociologically Approaching (Anti)Socialities”
Aristide Sechandice - “Dysfunctions of Evaluation Standards in Contemporary Sociology”
Closing remarks: 3:15 - 3:30 PM EDT
Notes on the Symposium Theme, Paper Selection Criteria & Publication Opportunities
Activism and social reform have gone hand in hand with development of sociology as a discipline and profession, both in the U.S. and around the world. This year’s theme for the ASA Annual Meeting draws on the legacy of one such scholar-activist, W.E.B. Du Bois. Building off of this focus, the ASA Section on the History of Sociology & Social Thought is hosting its special two day conference on the history of the relationship between scholarship and activism/reform in the discipline of sociology. We will be featuring work that traces the legacies of social reform within the discipline and grounds historically the meaning and use of the terms scholar, activist, and reform. We are highlighting work that critically engages work of scholar-activists across the political spectrum, takes an international or comparative perspective, and discusses the place of activism more broadly in the history and future of sociology.
In addition to papers that focus on this special theme, we have also invited papers which investigate more generally the history of sociology and social thought. Our conception of work in the history of sociology and social thought is broad, international, and comparative, ranging from developments in theory and methods to the impacts of changing demographics and university cultures on priorities for scholarship. For examples of the types of work done by scholars in the history of sociology, please see the listing of Awards given over the last twenty years by the section.
This opportunity is part of the section’s New Voices Initiative. Through this initiative the section seeks to encourage innovative scholarship engaging with the history of sociology and social thought—a field we feel is essential to the profession and yet is currently not given any formal placement in college and university curricula. In addition to this second annual conference, the New Voices Initiative has sponsored a working paper series, offering section members the opportunity to receive feedback on works-in-progress and meet other scholars interested in the history of sociology and social thought. In line with this mission we particularly encourage submissions from graduate students, instructors, post-doctoral scholars, assistant professors, and independent scholars.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact newvoiceshsst@gmail.com. Participation in the symposium is not a requirement for submission to the sponsored thematic issue of The American Sociologist; nor does symposium participation require submission.
The final version of the paper for The American Sociologist thematic issue should be submitted by December 31, 2021 following guidelines on the website maintained by Springer publisher for The American Sociologist (https://www.springer.com/journal/12108).
Please note that The American Sociologist is particularly interested in receiving submissions involving the collection and analysis of original or previously unknown or unpublished data, as well as submissions that use published materials to track the emergence of trends in the field. The editors invite you to be a “working historian,” that is “doing history” to reveal something of significance about past events.
Symposium Co-Chairs:
Kerby Goff, kerby.goff@psu.edu
Hannah Waight, hwaight@princeton.edu
Taylor Winfield, taylorpw@princeton.edu
Symposium Organizing Committee:
Kevin Anderson, kanderson@soc.ucsb.edu
Laura Ford, lford@bard.edu
Kerby Goff, kerby.goff@psu.edu
Hannah Waight, hwaight@princeton.edu
Taylor Winfield, taylorpw@princeton.edu