American Sociological Association
118th Annual Meetings 2023
118th Annual Meetings 2023
Philadelphia - August 18-22
The Educative Power of Sociology
The goal is to encourage an examination of the discipline’s reach and power in myriad spheres of society. Sociology’s educative power exists within its ability to convey knowledge and research critically, and to even offer solutions and interventions to social problems, from classrooms to boardrooms, individuals and families to communities, institutions to nation-states, and social movements to social change and justice.
Today the United States and other parts of the world are experiencing a regressive turning point. Arguably, it reflects a “tipping point” where those who have been historically denied opportunities to full humanity, citizenship, and access to societal resources have advanced relatively slowly since the mid-twentieth century. Sociological theory and discourses have pushed society beyond bankrupt, culturally deficit, colorblind, and individualistic talk to discussions of the adverse effects of white supremacy, class exploitation, structural inequalities, and neoliberalism. Recently, however, that advancement has hit a wall. Meanwhile, within academia and sociology, epistemic and methodological debates persist. Social scientists across the disciplinary spectrum wrestle forcefully with the directions of their departments and fields of expertise.
The backlash and pushback are great. Full participation in the polity and voting rights are under assault. State legislatures have also outlawed explicit teaching of the nation’s history, about race and racism, anti-Semitism, and explicit references to certain books and ideas that highlight the racial hierarchy at the core of U.S. society and beyond. The highest court in the United States shows signs of overruling a legal precedent laid by its own predecessors and has acquiesced to a state’s demand to limit women’s reproductive rights. Competitiveness and fear of encroachment on individual choice motivate communities to reproduce thick social boundaries and segregation and to limit the sharing of resources and power significantly with historically underrepresented groups in access to departments, colleges, and universities.
Paradoxically, while the “opening” of opportunity structures has enabled both epistemic and social diversity across time, many historical beneficiaries of power and resources now experience group threat, anxiety, and fear and find themselves in perceived crises. The conflicts of increased status differentiation bear witness to the limits of representation without the depth of structural and organizational change.
For the 2023 ASA Annual Meeting, which will be held August 18-22 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, President-elect Carter invites myriad practice communities of sociologists to engage in innovative and imaginative discussions that take us beyond the extant (and limited) nature of research evidence to conceptualize, simulate, and debate models of deeper social advancement in organizations, institutions, and society.
Today the United States and other parts of the world are experiencing a regressive turning point. Arguably, it reflects a “tipping point” where those who have been historically denied opportunities to full humanity, citizenship, and access to societal resources have advanced relatively slowly since the mid-twentieth century. Sociological theory and discourses have pushed society beyond bankrupt, culturally deficit, colorblind, and individualistic talk to discussions of the adverse effects of white supremacy, class exploitation, structural inequalities, and neoliberalism. Recently, however, that advancement has hit a wall. Meanwhile, within academia and sociology, epistemic and methodological debates persist. Social scientists across the disciplinary spectrum wrestle forcefully with the directions of their departments and fields of expertise.
The backlash and pushback are great. Full participation in the polity and voting rights are under assault. State legislatures have also outlawed explicit teaching of the nation’s history, about race and racism, anti-Semitism, and explicit references to certain books and ideas that highlight the racial hierarchy at the core of U.S. society and beyond. The highest court in the United States shows signs of overruling a legal precedent laid by its own predecessors and has acquiesced to a state’s demand to limit women’s reproductive rights. Competitiveness and fear of encroachment on individual choice motivate communities to reproduce thick social boundaries and segregation and to limit the sharing of resources and power significantly with historically underrepresented groups in access to departments, colleges, and universities.
Paradoxically, while the “opening” of opportunity structures has enabled both epistemic and social diversity across time, many historical beneficiaries of power and resources now experience group threat, anxiety, and fear and find themselves in perceived crises. The conflicts of increased status differentiation bear witness to the limits of representation without the depth of structural and organizational change.
For the 2023 ASA Annual Meeting, which will be held August 18-22 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, President-elect Carter invites myriad practice communities of sociologists to engage in innovative and imaginative discussions that take us beyond the extant (and limited) nature of research evidence to conceptualize, simulate, and debate models of deeper social advancement in organizations, institutions, and society.
The section's session descriptions are:
Labor’s Resurgence
This panel will address renewed interest in the labor movement, occasioned by recent successes at Starbucks, Amazon, and in the education sector. Paper topics may include but are not limited to: new modes of organization, direct action, strikes, alt labor organizations, innovative labor-community coalitions, the role of young workers, and worker militance.
Race, Gender, and Labor
The Labor and Labor Movements programming committee invites papers that engage the question of intersecting inequalities from the perspective of work, workplace struggles, and movement building. Topics may include but are not limited to: coalitions between unions and organizations mobilizing for racial and gender equity; worker centers and the struggle for immigrant rights; the gendered and racialized dynamics of labor control and discipline; the politics of workplace inclusion and discrimination; and the feminization and diversification of the workforce and organized labor.
Section on Labor and Labor Movements Roundtables
This is an open call for submissions on labor and labor movements for those interested in an informal and collaborative workshop setting.
Session Organizers
Cedric de Leon, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Erin E. Hatton, University at Buffalo
Sara Gia Trongone, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Youbin Kang, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Katy Habr, Columbia University
Labor’s Resurgence
This panel will address renewed interest in the labor movement, occasioned by recent successes at Starbucks, Amazon, and in the education sector. Paper topics may include but are not limited to: new modes of organization, direct action, strikes, alt labor organizations, innovative labor-community coalitions, the role of young workers, and worker militance.
Race, Gender, and Labor
The Labor and Labor Movements programming committee invites papers that engage the question of intersecting inequalities from the perspective of work, workplace struggles, and movement building. Topics may include but are not limited to: coalitions between unions and organizations mobilizing for racial and gender equity; worker centers and the struggle for immigrant rights; the gendered and racialized dynamics of labor control and discipline; the politics of workplace inclusion and discrimination; and the feminization and diversification of the workforce and organized labor.
Section on Labor and Labor Movements Roundtables
This is an open call for submissions on labor and labor movements for those interested in an informal and collaborative workshop setting.
Session Organizers
Cedric de Leon, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Erin E. Hatton, University at Buffalo
Sara Gia Trongone, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Youbin Kang, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Katy Habr, Columbia University
