Last week, in response to conservative attacks on the discipline, the American Sociological Association launched The Value of Sociology Initiative to better demonstrate to voters and policymakers the value of the work sociologists do.
To better publicize this initiative, Society Today has reprinted the initiative’s first communication below. Please read, share widely, and submit materials if applicable!
Part I: Demonstrating the Value of Sociology. ASA is collecting and curating stories about the value of sociology that will be disseminated in a number of formats across various outlets, including a special issue of Footnotes and other published collections, advocacy sheets for national and state legislators, social media, podcasts, and more. We’re looking for the voices of scholars, current students of sociology, and former students who majored in or took sociology courses as undergraduates. ASA will share these stories with the public and policymakers, and we’ll make the stories available to sociologists to use as tools in their own advocacy efforts.
Scholars. We’ve all done work that has made an impact. Impacts might include influencing policy change at local or broader levels or doing research that has raised awareness about current social problems, such as disparities in access to healthcare or affordable housing. Impacts might also include applying research methods in new ways or giving a talk at your local library that provides members of the community with tools for better managing teen social media use. If you are a sociologist or a sociology doctoral student, please share your impact story here. We are hoping to collect hundreds of these stories that we can deploy for a wide range of advocacy efforts. Help us create a compelling group of narratives.
Current students. Are you a student or do you teach high school students, undergraduates, and/or graduate students? Please participate or let your students know about ASA’s TikTok/Instagram contest, which provides students with an opportunity to share specific things they have learned in sociology classes that have helped them better understand our social world or their own lives and experiences.
Former undergraduate students who majored in or took sociology courses. Do you know former undergraduate (not PhD) students who are using their bachelor’s degree and sociological knowledge in interesting and productive ways? Please send them this link and ask them to share their story with us.
Do you have other ideas for how we can demonstrate the value of sociology? Please let us know.
Part II: Empowering Sociologists to Advocate and Defend. ASA is providing sociologists with capacity-building tools for both sharing content about the value of sociology with the public and policymakers and protecting themselves when under attack.
Writing op-eds that highlight the value of sociology. This resource page provides sociologists with tools to write compelling op-eds. It includes a collection of effective examples written by our colleagues. If you have a published op-ed that demonstrates the value of sociology we might include on this page, please send it to [email protected]. ASA staff offer editorial support and placement assistance. And we invite you to join us on March 22, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern (also recorded for future listening), for a workshop on op-ed writing planned jointly by ASA’s Political Sociology Section, Sociological Practice and Public Sociology Section, and Sociologists for Women in Society.
Communicating with legislators and other policymakers. This resource page provides information about how to track legislation, find your legislators, schedule and prepare for meetings with policymakers, and more. And we invite you to join us on May 9, 1:00-2:00 p.m. Eastern, for a webinar that is designed to support those confronting attacks on sociology at the state level as well as anyone interested in raising awareness about the value of the discipline for students, communities, or society as a whole. The workshop will feature staff from the National Humanities Alliance who lead advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and support advocacy on campuses around the country as well as a campus-based government relations officer with expertise in advocacy at the state level.
Protecting yourself or your colleagues when under attack. We recognize that sociologists have experience harassment, doxing, and other challenges due to their work as sociologists. This resource page offers practical advice for managing these frightening and overwhelming situations. If you know of other resources we might include on this page, please send them to [email protected].
Learning from our colleagues at the ASA 2024 Annual Meeting. We hope you’ll join us in Montreal for a plenary session (which will also be livestreamed and recorded for viewing at your convenience) on academic freedom, featuring experts on the legislative agenda, how attacks on academic freedom have operated in various contexts, and how to respond to these attacks. There will also be a Thematic Session featuring scholars who have experienced challenges to academic freedom, and a PEN America workshop on “Academic Freedom and Inclusion: Tools to Uphold Both” that we encourage you to attend.
Are there other resources ASA might provide that would be helpful in empowering sociologists to advocate for and defend sociology? Please let us know.
How has sociology impacted you or your loved ones for the better? Tell us your stories in the comments!
