The Brief Career of Catholic Sociology

Kivisto, Peter

doi:10.2307/3710766

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Dobbelaere (1989) has described how European Catholic sociologists in the Société International de Sociologie des Religions (SISR) struggled to emancipate themselves from its clericalist origins. In a similar way in the US Morris (1989, see also Kivisto 1989) has reported a parallel process of 'secular transcendence' in the emergence of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR) from its origins as the American Catholic Sociological Society. In both cases, there was a long struggle to achieve recognition of the autonomous status and validity of sociological research into such 'sacred' areas as religious beliefs and rituals.…”

Section: Religion As a Vocationmentioning

confidence: 90%

Researching religion: The vocation of the sociologist of religion

Hornsby-Smith¹

2002

International Journal of Social Research Methodology

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This paper reflects on the vocation or 'calling' of the researcher in the sociology of religion in the light of his experiences of researching transformations in English Catholicism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. It takes as its starting point Weber's two essays. A consideration of religious perspectives on the lay vocation leads to an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of insider research. The paper reflects on research mistakes, threats and attempts to co-opt the researcher, unexpected surprises and serendipity, and the need for the social scientist to retain control of his/her research. It concludes with inspiration from Havel that the calling of the sociological researcher is socially important and urges renewed commitment to seeking with integrity the extension of certified knowledge and the demystification of powerful institutional structures.

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Section: Religion As a Vocationmentioning

confidence: 90%

Researching religion: The vocation of the sociologist of religion

Hornsby-Smith¹

2002

International Journal of Social Research Methodology

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“…From the early 1900s to the 1940s, Catholic sociology was the only rubric under which sociology was practised in Ireland. By contrast, in the U.S., Catholic sociological organisations developed alongside non-confessional equivalents and each viewed the other with some hostility (Kivisto 1989). This meant that Irish Catholic sociologists' engagement with secular sociology was through their reading of the international literature and linkages with secular sociologists in other contexts.…”

Section: Explaining the Irish Catholic Sociology Storymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Secondly, in each context similar discursive and organisational strategies in the form of such things as study circles, public lectures, summer schools, confessional periodicals, and co-operative movements (Brewer 2007;Gauvreau 2005;Kivisto 1989;Varacalli 1990;Fichter 1973;Rawe 1940;Waldron 1950) were adopted to promote and disseminate this new way of "doing" sociology. What remains puzzling about the specifically Irish experience is how sudden and dramatic the turn to secular sociology-and away from the earlier Catholic sociology phase-was in the 1950s.…”

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confidence: 99%

Catholic Sociology in Ireland in Comparative Perspective

Conway

2011

Am Soc

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This paper examines the relationship between the Catholic Church and Irish sociology within a comparative framework. Drawing on archival and documentary research, this linkage is investigated at an institutional and intellectual level, across three stages of the "career" of Irish Catholic sociology, and employing comparisons with Catholic sociology in France, Germany, and the United States. I discern important sources of variation between the four cases including major intellectuals, organisational hosts, and publishing outlets. Irish Catholic sociology's quite sudden movement in the direction of secular sociology in the 1950s is explained as a result of normative pressure to jettison its value-driven orientation as a result of more frequent interaction with the mainstream discipline via scholarly collaboration, the reforms of Vatican II emphasising engagement with the modern world, the demise of the broader Catholic Action movement of which it was a part, and changes in the national higher education environment.

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“…The ACSS had close ties to the Catholic Church until after Vatican II. The first issue of the society’s journal American Catholic Sociological Review was published in 1940 and it went through several name changes as the organization secularized (Kivisto, 1989; Lane, 1971; Morris, 1989; Ralph and Gallager, 1989). Today the ASR includes about 700 members and meets at the same time as the American Sociological Association each year.…”

Section: Reflecting On Professional Associationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cadge

Barton

2016

Critical Research on Religion

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We reflect personally and historically on some of the institutions that have nurtured and shaped conversations at the intersections of sociology and religious studies, particularly professional associations. Our argument is simple. The ways different scholars understand the relationship between the sociology of religion and religious studies have a lot to do with the institutions that nurtured us and through which we engage in the conversation. We push back on simple black and white distinctions that paint their approaches in oppositions: more historical vs. more contemporary, more qualitative vs. more quantitative, more concerned with normative concerns vs. more “objective”—in favor of a more nuanced view. We keep in mind the Christian origins of the main professional organizations at these intersections and call for deeper dialogue not just between sociologists and scholars in religious studies but with colleagues involved with a range of other groups.

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The Brief Career of Catholic Sociology

Cited by 18 publications

References 32 publications

Researching religion: The vocation of the sociologist of religion

Researching religion: The vocation of the sociologist of religion

Catholic Sociology in Ireland in Comparative Perspective

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