(KNW2) Sociology, Sociologically

The discipline of sociology has a range of theoretical and empirical tools for considering the social world. This session explores the insights yielded by these tools when they are turned inward, to consider the discipline itself. Papers consider the influence of sociologists on disciplinary knowledge, methodologies, and their relationship to the cultural and political context of the field. Focusing on new contexts and developments in sociological research, they offer insights about how sociology is changing, and ways it is staying the same. Tags: Community, Knowledge, Research Methods, Theory

Organizers: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia, Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta/Concordia University of Edmonton, Alvin Yang, York University

Presentations

Momo Tanaka, University of Toronto

The development of sociological knowledge during a pandemic: A look at work-life nexus research

Work-life nexus research has shifted over time in response to the evolving cultural and historical norms of work and life, and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly had the disruptive potential to change the momentum of sociological research. Through an extensive literature review of sociological publications on the relationship between work and life during the pandemic, this project endeavoured to answer several questions: What key concerns were addressed in the literature? What questions or populations were unaddressed? What does the research published by sociologists in response to the pandemic reveal about the discipline’s orientations and biases? This review revealed several patterns in the development of research methodologies and topics throughout the pandemic. The number of autoethnographies published during the early pandemic was notably high. This was likely partly due to the constraints on in-person interactions restricting many researchers’ access to research participants. Therefore, many articles made use of the only data easily available at the time: the author’s personal experiences. For this reason, the interests of academics were highlighted in the work-life nexus research. This is reflected in the predominance of themes relating to remote teaching, academic parenthood, and negotiating academic responsibilities with family and care obligations. The predominance of autoethnographies decreased over time as social distancing constraints were lifted and survey data had been collected and analyzed. The topics covered in these articles echoed the foci of the autoethnographies, revealing concerns about remote work, pandemic parenthood, creating and negotiating boundaries within the home, as well as division of labour and structural inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic. In terms of the key investigative questions outlined above, the most remarkable finding of this review was the dominance of academic voices (educated, upper-middle class, largely white). This is likely due to methodological difficulties of research at the beginning of the pandemic and has wide implications for perspectives highlighted in the research produced. For instance, the literature was noticeably occupied by gender as an investigative frame in research on the work-life nexus. Of course, it is undeniable that gender within the household is a topic that sociology has been invested in for many ages, and the pandemic was an unexpected opportunity to investigate the nature and bounds of gendered expectations in families. While the pandemic expanded the work-life nexus scholarship greatly in understanding gender in the household, there are other focal identities that were of less focus, such as race or class. We also likely missed out on other significant populations that may not be part of the “typical” conception of the working population—for example, young/emerging adults, low-wage frontline workers, people engaged in criminalized or stigmatized work, and new immigrants. Knowledge is a product of the questions, methods, and assumptions contained in research that came before, and thus this review seeks to engage critically in the questions, methods, and assumptions contained in the pandemic literature within the sociology of the work-life nexus. Without critical reflection on the process of knowledge creation and the knowledge that is created, any discipline risks reproducing its own biases and overlooking alternate interpretations of reality. 

Kennedy Culbertson, University of Saskatchewan

Measurements We Live By: Gender as Data in Canadian Sociology

Calls for more inclusive measures for sex and gender go back as far as 2010, but normative Canadian sociology has yet to answer this evidence-based call to action. Transgender and gender diverse populations continue to exist on the periphery of sociological research and are outright excluded by traditional research practices involving gender. Due to a lack of inclusive research methods, there is still much we do not know about transgender and gender diverse populations. Although the systemic exclusion of trans folks has likely been unintentional, we cannot deny the negative ramifications felt to this day. My research investigates the inclusion and exclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in Canadian sociology using measurement tools for sex and gender. Traditional binary measurement tools for sex and gender exclude many transgender and gender diverse populations from participating in research. I performed a content analysis of 126 papers published between 2014 and 2023 in the Canadian Review of Sociology (CRS). Papers that were included in the sample must be published in English, perform empirical research, and use a Canadian dataset or sample population. Papers that were primarily theoretical or that performed systematic reviews were excluded from the sample, as the focus of this study was measurement tools for sex and gender. Similarly, papers that made no mention of both sex and gender were excluded from the sample. With these parameters, I was left with a sample of 126 research papers. Initial results indicate that one in four papers did not report which sex or gender measurement tool was used in research (n = 32). Nearly two-thirds of the sample reported using binary measurement tools for sex or gender in their work (n = 83). When restricting the analysis to papers that reported their measurement tool (n = 94), binary measures were used in almost 90% of cases. A total of eleven papers reported using a more inclusive measurement tool for sex or gender. More inclusive measures of sex or gender accounted for less than ten percent of the total sample (n = 11; 8.7%), and just under twelve percent of the papers that reported their measurement tool (11.7%). The current recommendation for social research is a two-step measure that includes sex assigned at birth and self-identified gender identity. This measure allows for trans folks to be included in analysis with their gender group and allows for researchers to determine the transgender status of respondents if needed. Based on the analysis of the CRS from 2014 to 2023, most publications that measure gender are not following the practices outlined by experts. My presentation will discuss other variables that may be related to the adoption of inclusive measurement tools, including research type (quantitative, qualitative, mixed), method of data collection (survey, census, interviews, etc.), and data source (primary, secondary, mixed). I will also discuss the variation between the different inclusive measures used by papers in the sample. It is important to understand the practices of normative sociological research so that we can intentionally move towards more inclusive practices.

Leila Hoballah, Lebanese University

A plea for Arab Sociology. Lebanese university; Institution of Social science Research Center knowledge production.

The argument in this paper is intended to question the possibility of producing Arab sociology knowledge, based on Arabic cultural and historical specificities, that could play a dynamic role in the development of Arab society. Despite some Arab sociologists advocating for adapting Western sociological methodologies and concepts, the following question arises: Can an Arab sociology be established free from Western epistemological and methodological frameworks? Is there a school called Arab sociology or an Arab theory in the field of sociology? Arab scholars argue that Arab sociology lacks a comprehensive theory to study and explain the social phenomenon in the Arab societies. Many reasons hindered the development of social sciences in Arab academic field; first: social sciences have been perceived as part of the colonial hegemony of the west, second: the adoption of educational curriculum in social studies, that teach the western school of thought, third: the absence of what can be called academic freedom in the Arab authoritarian regime, fourth: many scholars who have approached the social issues in Arab societies have faced significant social resistance. Some Arab researchers in sociology have chosen to write in languages other than Arabic, distancing themselves from the social pressures in their societies. They have presented their studies through translation. While others question its legitimacy, believe that in order to produce Arab sociology, it is necessary to return to Islam. There has been a project in the Arab arena to establish a sociological science from an Islamic perspective, arguing that this science aims to develop a general and comprehensive theory to explain society. It asserts that Islam provides a comprehensive vision for society and life. They worked on refining the concepts of this science from an Islamic perspective within the context of "Islamic Sociology." Sociology in Arab universities carries two main characteristics that have been associated with it since its inception nearly a century ago: Dependency on Western schools in its curricula and theoretical tools, lack of a general purpose for this science among most of its practitioners, including professors, researchers, and academic institutions, and the alienation of social studies from its social environment. In this paper we will study the knowledge production and reproduction of the Institute of Social Science Research Center, at the Lebanese University, in the last 20 years, through discourse analysing for the topics that have been conducted by research papers, conferences, and seminars. The Institute and its research center have been founded since 1959, in Beirut, as part of the Lebanese university faculty of humanity studies. The center has published plenty of research papers, in social sciences, conducted seminars and conferences, collaborated with other academic institutions, and published a periodical magazine. The research methodology will include critical discourse analysis for the research topics, qualitative in-depth interviews, with the researchers at the center, to gather personal narratives, and reflections on the matter, and the administration of surveys and questionnaires to collect quantitative data, allowing for a broader understanding of trends and commonalities. This exploration aims to contribute valuable insights to further examine the concept of “Arab Sociology”, as knowledge production of sociological theories, that implement Arabic philosophy, using sociological tools, by Arab sociologist, in Arabic language, to study Arabic societies.  

Zohreh Bayatrizi, University of Alberta

From Palace to Prison: Sociology and Its Trials in Iran

We plan to present a 20-minute documentary about the history of sociology in Iran. Sociology is a highly politicized field in Iran. From its foundation in 1958 to the present, both sociologists and the state have had a politicized view of the field. It has been attractive for students and academics of all political stripes who have pursued sociology in hope of finding revolutionary, reformist, or reactionary solutions to social problems. From Marxist and leftist guerillas in the 1960s to Islamists, and reformers after the 1979 Revolution, sociological research and teaching has been heavily politicized. The state in turn has often treated sociology with suspicion and, especially after the 1979 Revolution, sought to control and subject it censorship. After chronicling this history, the documentary looks at ways in which the current generation of sociologists and students of sociology are coming to terms with this legacy. In particular, it will discuss private sociology classes outside the university as a space within which scholars and students resist state control and censorship.

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Non-presenting authors: Reyhaneh Javadi, University of Alberta; Hajar Ghorbani, University of Alberta