Sociologists in Action: Sociology, Social Change, and Social Justice

Abstract

How many times have we all been posed with the seemingly central question facing sociology professors today… "But what can I do with a sociology degree?" The question, often asked by students on the cusp of

Help Me See the “Magnificent” Side of Sociology: The Outcomes of a Community Action and Involvement Course Designed to Help Undergraduates View Themselves as Agentic

“…The instructor preselected some of the materials, whereas students contributed other selections. The two required texts were The Better World Handbook (Jones, Haenfler, and Johnson 2017) and Sociologists in Action: Social Change and Social Justice (Korgen, White, and White 2014). These were selected to provide concrete examples of how people can engage in social change in their daily lives and how sociologists can do so through their work.…”

Educating for Organizing in U.S. Sociology: A Missing Component in Scholar‐Activist Pedagogy1

“…In the past decade or so since, we have further heard the voices of humanist sociologists calling for a revitalized “humanistic grassroots public sociology” (e.g., Dale and Kalob 2006; Dolgon 2010; Dolgon and Chayko 2010; Morton et al 2012; Pennell and Maher 2014) for “engaged sociology” (Korgen et al 2010); and as late as 2019, by Mary Romero calling for sociologists to engage in social justice work as the message of her ASA presidential address. Yet, in all of these waves of clarion calls for an activist sociology, and in what has seemingly been a tidal wave of publications on “service learning,” “civic engagement,” and “public sociology,” I could find what appears to be only a handful of sociologists, both before and since Buroway’s 2004 address, studying the role of community organizing as social action (see Feagin, Vera and Ducey 2016; Kleidman 2006; McAlevey 2020, 2016; Warren 2001), and only a few who are writing as organizers, or calling on practicing sociologists, themselves, to organize (see Catone 2018; Dale and Kalob 2006; Kleidman 2006; Reitzes and Reitzes 1982; Warren 2010; Warren and Mapp 2011).…”

“…Despite this description, which I would argue would be widely affirmed in our discipline, I repeatedly came up short on sociologists writing about the need for students to learn the basic mechanics of the organizing tradition so that they might, themselves, consider work as community organizers one day (for some exceptions, see Braa and Callero 2006; Dolgon 2010; Korgen et al 2010; Morton et al 2012; Stoecker and Tryon 2009; Walls 2015). So when I finally came across Dale and Kalob’s 2006 explicit call for sociology faculty “to teach advocacy and other skills that are essential to becoming an effective agent of social change [that would cover] the various ways that people can ‘do’ sociology, here including various kinds of research (academic, applied, participatory, etc.…”

A Cornerstone Course in Sociology: Providing Students with Theory, Methods, and Career Preparation Early in the Major

“…Interestingly, one of the most important factors in helping students make the connection between sociology and its wider applicability was the assigned readings in the book by Korgen et al (2014). According to one student, “Most important to me was reading our textbook and learning about what so many great people could accomplish with their college degree in sociology.…”