Organized Pluralism: Integration and Differentiation in the American Sociological Association, 1979–2000

• In Event: Methods and Methodologies in the History of Sociology and Social Thought

Abstract

How do sociologists organize and get organized by their professional association, given the pluralistic nature of the discipline? We extract network data from American Sociological Association (ASA) membership directories with new methods for archival quality digitization, text recognition, organization, and analysis. Analyzing the sections' co-membership network, this paper finds the discipline’s pluralism was absorbed in its leading professional association through a patterned reorganization of ties among sections rather than disintegration or uniform blending. Specifically, we find that the sections were increasingly integrated with each other in their co-membership network. But instead of a mechanical growth in all possible co-membership ties, our analysis indicates increasing variation in the bridging capacity of the sections over time. We identify the key bridging sections which integrate the network by providing opportunities to connect otherwise loosely connected sections, and interpret this reorganization of linkages as not only a reflection of the change in sociological knowledge, but also as an institutional adaptation to the rising pluralism in the discipline. We are currently expanding this project to linking individual sociologists across years to uncover how this organizational process is linked to members’ changing patterns of section affiliation.

Authors

• Yiwen Zeng, University of Arizona

• Peter D Ore, CUNY-Queens College

• Daniel A. Menchik, University of Arizona

• Marek Rychlik, University of Arizona

• Yan Han, University of Arizona