The Place of Problem-Solving in American Sociology

Having explained what problem-solving is, the book turns to where it fits in American sociology. This chapter argues that problem-solving is a name for a brand of sociology that is already practiced, and that might be seen as a kind of pragmatism plus causal analysis. This chapter shows the appeal of problem-solving by placing it in the context of an ongoing intellectual debate between scholars who argue for the possibility of reason or emancipation in human affairs and in scholarship, and scholars who, confronted with obdurate difference among human groups, insist that such difference be respected and that any attempts to come to rational or normative conclusions be understood as domination.

Biographical Analysis in Historical-Sociological Research. Summing up 20 Years of Experience. Interview prepared by Kozlova, L.A.

Doctorov gives an interview where issues are touched upon related to the development and achievements of a project on the history of Soviet/Russian sociology, a project which he has been curating for almost 20 years, as well as to a biographical study in the field of American sociology and the study of public opinion. Doctorov’s project deals with solving the theoretical, methodological and empirical issues of applying the biographical method in historical-sociological research. The author’s main methodological developments include the concept of Russian sociology’s rebirth, substantiation for generational-functional analysis, and the notion of a biographical quality to creative work in sociology, which includes the recently launched development of non-linear biographical analysis. The article discusses the author’s empirical research related to determining the generational structure of Russia’s sociological community, as well as the possibility of its study by means of in-depth interview via e-mail. It also examines the content and relevance of a collection of interviews with Russian sociologists (titled “Big portrait”), as well as an online-book titled “Biographical interviews with social scientist colleagues” (this one is interactive) and the nine-volume “Modern Russian sociology: historical-biographical pursuits”, all of which mention the main findings of B. Doctorov’s project.

“Quiet is the New Loud”: The Biosociology Debate’s Absent Voices

In 2000, a controversial article about hormones and gender roles was published to stimulate debate about whether and how biological knowledge should be integrated in sociological research. Two decades later, this so-called biosociology debate is more relevant than ever, as biological knowledge has become widespread across societies and scientific disciplines. Hence, we as sociologists are regularly confronted with biological explanations that challenge our own explanations. Whether this happens in the scientific arena, the classroom, media, or even at social events, these situations often force us, individually, to take a stance on whether to meet such explanations with dialogue or opposition. One could therefore expect that sociologists have an interest in discussing these issues with their peers, but their lack of participation in the biosociology debate suggests otherwise. This paper explores possible reasons for this absence and how sociologists’ views on biosociology are influenced by key agents – sociological associations and journals. Smith’s “A Sacred project of American Sociology”, and Scott’s “A Sociology of Nothing” served as theoretical tools in the paper. A qualitative content analysis of presidential addresses of four sociological associations was conducted. The analyses suggest that sociologist avoid biosociology for widely different reasons, including fear that biosociology legitimizes oppression. This avoidance is probably reinforced by the leftish politization of the sociological discipline and the rightish politization of society. Overcoming obstacles to engagement in biosociology is required to safeguard the scientific integrity of sociology and enable sociologists to provide relevant contributions to research on the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.

The ‘White’ Problem

In this chapter, Charles Mills looks at the historic framing of race as “the Negro problem” and its implications for the development of American sociology in particular. As black radical theorists of the socio-political order have always insisted: to the extent that there is a Negro problem, it has to be contextualized within the larger structural matrix of the white problem. But the failure to recognize white oppression as the environing and shaping causal background has necessarily misoriented inquiry from the start. Drawing on two prizewinning sociological texts, Stephen Steinberg’s Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy (1995) and Aldon Morris’s The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology (2015), Mills argues that “epistemic injustice” as a concept has to be expanded to include possible foundational distortions in the structure of the disciplines themselves.

The Influence of Simmel on American Sociology Since 1975

Recent decades have seen Georg Simmel's canonical status in American sociology solidify and his impact on research expand. A broad understanding of his influence, however, remains elusive. This review remedies this situation by evaluating Simmel's legacy in American sociology since 1975. We articulate Simmel's sociological orientation by elaborating the concepts of form, interaction, and dualism. Employing a network analysis of references to Simmel since 1975, we examine how Simmelian concepts have been adopted in research. We find Simmel became an anchor for change in urban and conflict studies, where scholars moved from his earlier functionalist reception toward a formalist interpretation. This formalist reception consolidated Simmel's status as a classic in network research and symbolic interactionism during the 1980s. Recent work in economic sociology and the sociology of culture, however, builds on Simmel's growing reception within relational sociology. We conclude with several ways to further articulate Simmel's ideas in the discipline. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 47 is July 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.