Unpacking White Dominance: Rethinking the Foundations of Sociological Knowledge

Session Submission Type: Invited Session (90 minute)

Description

This session explores the need to disrupt the status quo in sociology by examining the influence of whiteness in the production of sociological knowledge. Analysis of white methods provide critiques that illuminate how dominant epistemologies, research designs, and methodological norms in sociology have historically centered white experiences, reproduced racial hierarchies, and excluded and devalued alternative ways of knowing about and studying society. This session will interrogate how racialized power operates within our research approaches such as which questions get asked, approaches to data collection and statistical modeling, and interpretations of "objectivity." The session will examine how conventional social science methods can uphold systemic biases and will offer insights into doing more reflexive, inclusive, and truth-oriented forms of inquiry and knowledge production.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Session

Presider

• Shantel Gabrieal Buggs, Florida State University

Panelists

• Deadric T. Williams, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

• Anjuli Fahlberg, Tufts University

• Hedwig Lee, Duke University

Session Organizer

• Marianne Cooper, Stanford University