Sociology is an applied science, and the application is social change
A contribution to the discussion of Aldon Morris’ The Scholar Denied
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7095150 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Schwartz (0000-0003-3388-7413, Stony Brook University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1227-1230 |
| Publication date | 2017-03-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ethnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01419870.2017.1276293 |
| OpenAlex | W2593164822 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
I argue that W.E.B. Du Bois' expulsion from academic sociology at the beginning of the twentieth century was not only animated by the gatekeepers' desire to maintain academe as a whites-only domain. It also constituted an active effort to defend Social Darwinist dogma, which dominated (white) social science at that time, from the formidable challenge of a resourceful and scientifically superior perspective. The successful exclusion of Du Bois (and his growing legion of colleagues) allowed sociology to drift into functionalist dogma, with its immutable hierarchy and denial of sociology's role in facilitating social change. The exclusion of Du Boisean analysis, which placed human agency – and especially subaltern groups – at the centre of social change – rendered sociological analysis irrelevant to addressing social problems and social justice, until the Civil Rights Movement in America broke down the walls of the sociological ghetto, allowing it to access the rich Du Boisean perspective
Agency (philosophy · Criminology · Denial · Environmental ethics · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Social change · Social science · Sociological imagination · Sociology · White (mutation · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2023 (6) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |