Marxist sociology and humanist sociology: Diversity, intersections, and convergence

Marxist sociology is at the intersection of Marxism and sociology; while humanist sociology is at the intersection of humanist thought and sociology. Both see sociological theory as a living, evolving activity, and both take a critical stance toward the workings of capitalism. The main difference between them is that Marxist sociology is a body of thought tied to a movement, whereas humanist sociology is a movement tied to a body of thought. Professor of Sociology, Purdue University Calumet. He is past chair of the Section on Marxist Sociology, has been a member of the AHS for twenty years, and is co-author of Crisis and Change: Basic Questions of Marxist Sociology.     

Book reviews / Comptes rendus

Book reviewed in this article:
JEAN STOCKARD AND MARIAN M. JOHNSON, Sex Roles: Sex Inequality and Sex Role Development
MARGRIT EICHLER, The Double Standard: A Feminist Critique of Feminist Social Science
ALICE M. YOHALEM, The Careers of Professional Women: Commitment and Conflict
MARTIN KING WHYTE, The Status of Women in Preindustrial Societies
JACQUES DONZELOT, The Policing of Families
SHANKAR A. YELAJ A (ed.), Canadian Social Policy
GAYLENE BECKER, Growing Old in Silence
ELLIOTT A. KRAUSE. Power and Illness. The Political Sociology of Health and Medical Care
THEDA SKOCPOL, States and Social Revolutions
VINCENT WRIGHT, The Government and Politics of France
JOHN McCALLUM, Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic Development in Quebec and Ontario Until 1870
DOUG OWRAM, Promise of Eden: The Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West, 1856–1900
J. RICK PONTING AND ROGER GIBBINS, Out of Irrelevance: A Socio-Political Introduction to Indian Affairs in Canada
ROBERT A. SCOTT AND ARNOLD R. SHORE, Why Sociology Does Not Apply: A Study of the Use of Sociology in Public Policy
WILLIAM SKIDMORE, Theoretical Thinking in Sociology
JAMES A. SCHELLENBERG, Masters of Social Psychology
GREGORY BAUM (ed) Sociology and Human Destiny: Essays on Sociology, Religion and Society
EDWARD A. MAZIARZ (ed.), Value and Values in Evolution
BRYAN R. WILSON, The Noble Savages: The Primitive Origins of Charisma and its Contemporary Survival
ARON HOROWTIZ, Striking Roots: Reflections on Five Decades of Jewish Life
PIERRE CLICHE, Espace Social et Mobilité Residentielle
The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology     

Teaching, research, and service: Expectations of assistant professors

In this article, we critically evaluate the expectations of assistant professors as perceived by junior and senior faculty (n=22) across seven disciplines at two universities. Our research shows that there are similarities and differences within Sociology departments, across disciplines, and across the teaching and research schools where we collected our data. In one respect, Sociology is no different than the other departments where we interviewed faculty members—ambiguity abounds in terms of expectations for junior faculty. Scholarship expectations for tenure and promotion to associate professor vary much more greatly across rank, discipline, and institution than do those for teaching or service. Based on our findings, we offer several suggestions for improving the transition to the role of Assistant Professor in Sociology. Our suggestions focus on change within graduate programs, hiring institutions, and Sociology as a discipline. While our results are consistent with prior research in many cases, we note that the generalizability of our findings is limited given the number of interviews conducted and the purposive sampling design utilized. However, we hope that our results will provide additional information that may help others as they prepare to begin their roles as assistant professors.     

Book reviews/Comptes rendus

Book reviewed in this article: JEAN STOCKARD and MARIAN M. JOHNSON, Sex Roles: Sex Inequality and Sex Role Development. MARGRIT EICHLER, The Double Standard: A Feminist Critique of Feminist Social Science. ALICE M. YOHALEM, The Careers of Professional Women: Commitment and Conflict. MARTIN KING WHYTE, The Status of Women in Preindustrial Societies JACQUES DONZELOT, The Policing of Families. Toronto: Random House of Canada SHANKAR A. YELAJA (ed.), Canadian Social Policy. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier GAYLENE BECKER, Growing Old in Silence. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London ELLIOTT A. KRAUSE. Power and Illness. The Political Sociology of Health and Medical THEDA SKOCPOL, States and Social Revolutions, NY: Cambridge VINCENT WRIGHT, The Government and Politics of France. London JOHN McCALLUM, Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic Development in Quebec and Ontario Until 1870. Toronto DOUG OWRAM, Promise of Eden: The Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West, 1856–1900. Toronto J. RICK PONTING and ROGER GIBBINS, Out of Irrelevance: A Socio-Political Introduction to Indian Affairs in Canada. Toronto ROBERT A. SCOTT and ARNOLD R. SHORE, Why Sociology Does Not Apply: A Study of the Use of Sociology in Public Policy. WILLIAM SKIDMORE, Theoretical Thinking in Sociology (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge JAMES A. SCHELLENBERG, Masters of Social Psychology. New York GREGORY BAUM (ed) Sociology and Human Destiny: Essays on Sociology, Religion and Society. New York EDWARD A. MAZIARZ (ed.), Value and Values in Evolution. New York BRYAN R. WILSON, The Noble Savages: The Primitive Origins of Charisma and its Contemporary Survival. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London ARON HOROWTIZ, Striking Roots: Reflections on Five Decades of Jewish Life. Oakville PIERRE CLICHE, Espace Social et Mobilité Residentielle. Québec: Les Presses de ?     

A History and Analysis of Radical Activism in Sociology, 1967–1969, with Special Reference to the Sociology Liberation Movement,the Black Caucus,the Executive Council,the War in Vietnam and a Few Other Things*

Radical activism in sociology can be explained as reaction against developments in American society, university structure, social theory and the American Sociology Association. Beginning in 1967 with a controversy over a Vietnam resolution, it has grown to include organized opposition through the Sociology Liberation Movement and the separation of the Black Sociologists Association. The assumptions behind sociology as an academic field and an occupation, have been and are being tested and found erroneous by an increasing number of sociologists.     

Ilya Neustadt, Norbert Elias, and the Leicester Department: personal correspondence and the history of sociology in Britain

The central aims of this paper are: (1) to explore the utility of using personal correspondence as a source of data for sociological investigations into the history of sociology in the UK; (2) in relation to this undertaking, to advance the beginnings of a figurational analysis of epistolary forms; and (3), to provide an empirically-grounded discussion of the historical significance of the Department of Sociology at the University of Leicester (a University largely ignored in 'standard histories' of the subject) at a formative phase in the development of the discipline within the UK. The correspondence drawn upon in the paper is between Norbert Elias and Ilya Neustadt between 1962 and 1964 when Elias was Professor of Sociology at the University of Ghana and Ilya Neustadt was Professor of Sociology and Head of the Sociology Department at the University of Leicester. From an analysis of this correspondence, we elucidate an emergent dynamic to the relationship between Neustadt and Elias, one which, we argue, undergirds the development of sociology at Leicester and the distinctive character of the intellectual climate that prevailed there during the 1960s. The paper concludes with a consideration of whether it was a collapse of this dynamic that led to a total breakdown in the relationship between Neustadt and Elias, and by extension, an important phase in the expansion of sociology at Leicester.     

Postponement of health care by widowed,divorced, and never-married older men

This longitudinal research investigated the relationship between marital status and postponement of health care, reasons for postponement of treatment, factors associated with delaying care, and changes in health care behavior over a decade among 375 unmarried older men.Almost 30% of the men had not sought care when their health warranted it. Postponement of care was not associated with marital status although reasons for foregoing care were related to marital status. Discriminant analyses indicated the importance of financial distress to postponing care. The models were more effective in discriminating health care decisions of the formerly married than of the never married.Pat M. Keith is Professor of Sociology at Iowa State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at St. Louis University. Her current research interests are in the areas of gender roles in later life and rural-urban differences in the elderly.Address reprint requests to the author at Iowa State University, Department of Sociology, Ames, IA 50011.     

Of Time,Work, and Family

Qualitative Sociology -     

Baseball,Nationalism, and the Two Laredos

Qualitative Sociology -     

Focused,Exploratory, or Vigilant: Reproduction,Mobility, and the Self-Narratives of Second-Generation Immigrant Youth

Qualitative Sociology - The transition from late adolescence to early adulthood represents a key moment in trajectories of social reproduction and mobility. A central mechanism influencing these...     

Power,Positionality, and the Ethic of Care in Qualitative Research

Qualitative Sociology - Building on the definition offered by Aspers and Corte, I argue that qualitative research is not qualitative simply because it encodes for the ability “to get...     

Sex,Inequality, and Ethnography: Response to Erich Goode

Qualitative Sociology -     

Review Essay: On Morals,Manners, and Gender Inequality

Qualitative Sociology -     

“For a Younger Crowd”: Place,Belonging, and Exclusion among Older Adults Facing Neighborhood Change

Qualitative Sociology - Cities are gentrifying, yet we know little about the experience of older adults aging in gentrifying areas. Most research has focused on a shortage of affordable housing and...     

Review Essay: Researching AIDS in Society,Communities, and Social Groups

Qualitative Sociology -     

The Personal,the Sociological,and the Intersection of the Two

Qualitative Sociology -     

Review Essay: Two Studies of Labor,Immigration, and Ethnic Business

Qualitative Sociology -     

Review Essay: Thinking Critically about West Indians,Culture, and Identity

Qualitative Sociology -     

Book Review: Exploding the Gene Myth: How Genetic Information is Produced and Manipulated by Scientists,Physicians, Employers,Insurance Companies,Educators, and Law Enforcers. By Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. 225 pages,ISBN: 0-8070-0431-6

Qualitative Sociology -     

Book Review: The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice,Immigrant Workers,and the High-Tech Global Economy. By Pellow,David Naguib,and Park,Lisa Sun-Hee. New York: New York University Press, 2002. 303 pages,paperback. ISBN: 0814767109

Qualitative Sociology -