428 - Special Session. Creativity and Sociology

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

This session examines the past, present, and near future of “creativity” in American sociology, both as a research subject and as desiderata for sociologists’ identities within a “knowledge economy.” Special attention will be given to the economic and managerial dimensions of the topic, including how the discipline has been shaped in relation to prevalent business perspectives on creative labor and talent. As a discipline often and famously caught within the self-spun web of an alleged art/science dichotomy, the history of sociology’s relationship to “creativity” requires a brief history of the concept itself, a recent noun that gained academic significance only in the mid-20th Century Cold War institutions. How might sociology reengage with “creativity,” a construct it has largely avoided, even as we may reject its more common ideological treatments?

Historical themes will be covered by David Kyle and John Dale's paper, based on their book project, Inventing Creativity: The Rise and Fall of Creativeness During the Managerial Revolution. Addressing the challenge of new knowledge and theoretical innovation in sociology, Richard Swedberg’s paper will draw on insights from his recent book on (creative) theorizing, Theorizing in Social Science, is highly relevant, addressing the creativity challenge within the social sciences for over a century. Natasha Iskander’s work, Creative State, exemplifies sociological creativity. She will reflect on the other papers in the panel and develop her thoughts on the future of a “creative sociology.”

Sub Unit

• Special Sessions

Session Organizer

• David Kyle, University of California

Presider

• Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College

Panelists

• John G. Dale, George Mason University

• David Kyle, University of California

• Richard Swedberg, Cornell University

• Randall Collins, University of Pennsylvania

• Dustin Mabry, University of California, Davis