40406 - Debating the Place for Value-Commitments in Sociology

Description

Disputes about the place of value-commitments in sociology are active today, but they run like a red thread through the history of sociology, leading back to the origins of the discipline, and beyond. What, if anything, has changed today? Are new methods of analysis possible to enable new insights into the role(s) of politics and political commitments in sociology? Is the discipline more politicized today, and, if so, what does this say about the possibilities for sociology as a social “science”? This session, preceding the section's business meeting, will facilitate a pluralistic debate regarding themes of value-freedom, value-neutrality, and value-commitment in sociology, considered from a historical perspective and in light of contemporary controversies.

Sub Unit

• Section on History of Sociology and Social Thought / Open Call: Section on History of Sociology and Social Thought Paper Sessions

Presider

• George Steinmetz, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Individual Presentations

• Value Blindness in Sociological Research - Musa al-Gharbi, Stony Brook University

• Agency, Institutional Neutrality, and Disciplinary Crisis - Julia Potter Adams, Yale University

• Sociology in Crisis--or Sociology Amidst Crisis?--Sociology versus the Florida Board of Education - Gillian (Jill) Niebrugge-Brantley, George Washington University; Patricia Madoo Lengermann, George Washington University

• Why and How Should Sociologists Speak out on Palestine - Michael Burawoy, University of California-Berkeley; Laura R. Ford, Faulkner University

Session Organizer

• Laura R. Ford, Faulkner University