Getting to Reparations: A Response to Fein

Despite its title, Fein's article provides us with little analysis of race relations. Fein's discussion of various models of intervention implies that they are generally impotent. His criticism of the President's Initiative on Race appears to reflect a limited reading of the Advisory Committee report. From these observations I conclude that Fein's article reflects a neoconservative, noninterventionist ideology that blames the victim for the persistence of racial stratification in the United States. I close by suggesting that a movement for reparations would be an appropriate response to this ideology.     

Editor's Introduction: Contemporary Theory and Sociological Practice

Sociological Practice -     

Book Review: Theories of Practice: Symbolic Interactionist Translations. By James A. Forte. University Press of America,Lanham, MD, 2001, ISBN 0-7618-2025-6, pp. 512, $68.00, cloth

Sociological Practice -     

Toward an Autonomous Sociological Practice Occupation: Friendly Amendments to Turner's Social Engineering Manifesto

While endorsing Turner's view that the various wings of sociology (theorist, methodologist, researcher, and practitioner) need to be better integrated, major revisions to Turner's social engineering manifesto are suggested, including (1) dropping his negative caricatures of the various wings of sociology, (2) giving greater recognition to the uses already made of sociology, (3) moving away from the traditional positivistic models of science and practice, toward a more open, eclectic one that views theory and practice as independent activities that are both enriched through strong interaction, (4) considering the need for an autonomous sociological practice occupation, (5) inventing or selecting an alternative expression for social engineering because of the heavy, negative baggage it carries.     

What Sociologists Do and Where They Do It—The NSF Survey on Sociologists's Work Activities and Workplaces

We present data from the National Science Foundation Survey of Doctoral Recipients that challenges the image of sociology as a classroom-based group of professionals. Our data reveal that only 45.8% of Ph.D. sociologists teach sociology. The anachronistic and false image of sociology, we argue, is profoundly consequential to the way sociologists interact with each other and with the larger society. As a discipline we tend to ignore or dismiss the doing of sociology in favor of the teaching of sociology or of theoretically focused research. We also present data on principal tasks and job classifications for those in academic and nonacademic settings.