the next step for chicago sociology
It’s been seven years since I graduated from Chicago. I’ve been thinking a bit about the program’s history and legacy. You might summarize the high points of Chicago this way:
- Urban studies, with a very heavy ethnographic and ecological focus: The tradition continues to this day with some great faculty (such as guest blogger Mario Small).
- Interactionism: Not always in the soc dept, but the early days had Mead and Dewey, followed by some Chicago school writers, then followed by Blumer. Then interactionism kind of stopped for a while after Blumer, but it gets picked up from time to time.
- Big N survey research: Chicago has been a pioneer in this area with the GSS, NELS, NORC, the Health and Life Surveys, etc. Still going strong.
- Orgs & networks: The phrase “Chicago School” doesn’t ususally remind you of this area, but the dept has been very strong since the 1980s: Clark and Blau taught organization theory there; Bidwell’s work on schools as orgs was done there; Laumann’s org state work was done at Chicago; most of Gould’s career was spent there; Burt is there; Padgett is there; etc. And these folks have all churned out tons of students who populate modern org studies, including myself.
What next? I have no idea! On the one hand, it’s not hard to build on these traditions. There are excellent scholars in all areas that can be hired. You might also try to create new areas, but that’s hard, since we seem to be at the tail end of a normal science cycle in sociology. Finally, Chicago might give in to isomorpshism. I’ve been told that this has happened in Chicago economics – the econ dept’s newer faculty don’t particularly share the techniques or the views of the older faculty; it’s no longer a bastion of markets, except among the very senior faculty. If Chicago soc hired the best and brightest from other programs, they’ll resemble other programs. In any case, I’m quite eager to see what the future holds for the alma mater.
One of the highlights of Chicago sociology (well, sociology period): James Coleman.
tf
December 29, 2009 at 2:44 am
Just a note on your comment about Chicago’s econ program, I’ve kind of seen this go on in several soc programs over the past few years where new faculty and older faculty do not share the same views (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), but one of the sticking points seems to be the conception of intersectionality. The newer faculty are more open to using it as a frame in their research whereas some of the older faculty are somewhat resistant to it. It’s an interesting dynamic to see play out in job talks…
Hillbilly
December 29, 2009 at 1:49 pm
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Gilles en vrac… » sociologue de Chicago
December 29, 2009 at 6:07 pm
TF: Coleman was definitely a highlight. I’d count him in the big N tradition and the orgs/networks. Oddly, the mathematical soc at chicago never took, except for Kaz Yamaguchi. Maybe John Levi Martin can revive it.
H.B.: when I first heard about intersectionality, I thought – haven’t we already done this before? Simmel? Patricia Hill Collins? What’s new?
fabiorojas
December 29, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Fabio, I agree. I remember reading some of Simmel’s work in an undergrad theory course and then later reading PHC’s work during the same semester and thinking the same thing.
Hillbilly
December 29, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Maybe while we all sit here and wait what’s next at the ol’ Chicago dept all of those really influential folk currently sitting at Evanston will run away with the show.
Omar
December 29, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Um… Omar…Did you notice that the list has a bunch of Chicago grads? (Go, Espeland, Carruthers, Adut) Not to detract from Northwestern, which is a fantastic place, but you gotta give credit!
fabiorojas
December 29, 2009 at 7:38 pm
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Gilles en vrac… » sociologue de Chicago
February 15, 2010 at 10:21 pm