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American Sociological Association

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American Sociological Association
FormationJanuary 1, 1905; 119 years ago (1905-01-01)
Headquarters1717 K Street NW, Suite 900, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Membership (2023)
9,893[1]
2023 President
Joya Misra
PublicationFootnotes
Websitewww.asanet.org

The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fifty people, the first president of the association would be Lester Frank Ward.[2] Today, most of its members work in academia, while around 20 percent of them work in government, business, or non-profit organizations.

ASA publishes ten academic journals and magazines, along with four section journals, including the American Sociological Review and Contexts.

The ASA had 9,893 members in 2023, as an association of sociologists even larger than the International Sociological Association.[3] It is composed of researchers, students, college/university faculty, high school faculty, and various practitioners[4] The "American Sociological Association Annual Meeting" is an annual academic conference held by the association consisting of over 4,000 participants.

History

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Founding

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In the summer of 1905, George Washington University professor C. W. A. Veditz began a discussion among sociologists throughout the United States, writing to several dozen people to gauge the need for or interest in forming an sociological organization.[5][6][7][8] Sociologists debated whether there was a need for a separate organization from the American Economic Association, American Political Science Association and the American Historical Association, which most sociologists at the time were members of.[5][8] Ultimately, a consensus was reached that the time had come for a society of sociologists in the U.S.[5]

In early December, Veditz and eight others wrote to about 300 people inviting them to a special session during the American Economic Association (AEA) and American Political Science Association meetings later that month to discuss the potential formation of a sociological society.

On December 27, approximately 50 people, including one woman, gathered in McCoy Hall at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and, by its end, the group would motion to form a new society of sociologists. Though there would be debate as to integrating this new society with an existing organization, such as the AEA, the group would ultimately decide that the new society ought to be an independent entity.

The committee

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At the end of the day of the initial meeting, those gathered at the meeting formed a five-person committee to develop a plan for the new society and how it should be governed. The committee members would re-convene the next afternoon to review the proposed structure of the society. Council members would include Edward A. Ross, W.F. Wilcox, Albion Small, Samuel Lindsay, D. C. Wells, and William Davenport.

The following men would be elected officers of the new society:[7]

When the committee left Baltimore, the birth of the American Sociological Society was complete, a Constitution had been adopted, officers were elected, and plans were made for the second annual meeting of the new society.

1905–1980

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In 1981, in celebration the association's 75th anniversary, Lawrence J. Rhoades prepared a 90-page publication entitled A History of the American Sociological Association, 1905-1980, commonly referred to as the "1981 Rhoades History." The publication provides a brief overview of the founding and early years of the association, as well as highlights of key activities and events in the decades since.[9]

In 1953, during the annual meeting in Berkeley, California, each of the (living) past presidents of the society would compose a voice recording to address the coming generation of sociologists.[10]

1981–Present

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ASA membership peaked at almost 15,000 in 2007 before declining to its current level below 10,000.[11] The trend led to the formation of a Task Force on Membership in 2016, with recommendations released in 2019, addressing issues of community, cost, and value.[12]

100-Year Anniversary

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In 2005, in celebration of the association's 100th anniversary, ASA published a 201-page book entitled A History of the American Sociological Association, 1981-2004. The publication picks up where the 1981 Rhoades history concludes, continuing the story and capturing the association's history from 1981 through 2004. It was the culmination of over two years of detailed research by Katherine J. Rosich.[9]

The "ASA Wikipedia" Initiative

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In the fall of 2011, the ASA launched its "Sociology in Wikipedia" initiative. Erik Olin Wright, President of the ASA, called for improvement in sociological entries in Wikipedia. He asked that professors and students to get more involved by having Wikipedia-writing assignments in class. The basic goal set forth by the initiative would be to make it easier for sociologists to contribute to Wikipedia, and for sociologists to become better involved in the writing and editing processes to ensure that social science articles are up-to-date, complete, accurate, and written appropriately.

In conjunction with the Wikimedia Foundation and a research group at Carnegie Mellon University, the ASA developed its Wikipedia Portal in an attempt to achieve the initiative's goal through providing tutorials on how to contribute; video discussions of norms and procedures; and lists of articles and subject areas that need improvement. The Portal would also provide instructions for professors on how to use Wikipedia writing assignments for academic courses.[13]

Code of Ethics

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The ASA is governed by a code of ethics, which has been revised since 1970, with the first ASA code of ethics being written in 1970. ASA members are bound by the code of ethics. The association also has codes for meeting behavior, disclosure, award revocation, and removal from leadership positions.[14]

Publications

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ASA Style Guide

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Main article: ASA style

ASA style is a widely accepted format for writing university research papers that specifies the arrangement and punctuation of footnotes and bibliographies. Standards for ASA style are specified in the ASA Style Guide, which is designed to aid authors in preparing manuscripts for ASA journals and publications.

ASA Academic Journals and Magazines

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The association publishes the following academic journals and magazines:[15]

The ASA also publishes Footnotes, a newsletter aimed at the association's members. Footnotes was established in 1979 and is published five times per year.[16]

Presidents

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The following persons have been presidents of the American Sociological Association:[17]

  1. Lester F. Ward 1906–1907
  2. William G. Sumner 1908–1909
  3. Franklin H. Giddings 1910–1911
  4. Albion Woodbury Small 1912–1913
  5. Edward A. Ross 1914–1915
  6. George E. Vincent 1916
  7. George E. Howard 1917
  8. Charles Cooley 1918
  9. Frank W. Blackmar 1919
  10. James Q. Dealey 1920
  11. Edward C. Hayes 1921
  12. James P. Lichtenberger 1922
  13. Ulysses G. Weatherly 1923
  14. Charles A. Ellwood 1924
  15. Robert E. Park 1925
  16. John L. Gillin 1926
  17. W. I. Thomas 1927
  18. John M. Gillette 1928
  19. William F. Ogburn 1929
  20. Howard W. Odum 1930
  21. Emory S. Bogardus 1931
  22. Luther L. Bernard 1932
  23. Edward B. Reuter 1933
  24. Ernest W. Burgess 1934
  25. F. Stuart Chapin 1935
  26. Henry P. Fairchild 1936
  27. Ellsworth Faris 1937
  28. Frank H. Hankins 1938
  29. Edwin Sutherland 1939
  30. Robert M. MacIver 1940
  31. Stuart A. Queen 1941
  32. Dwight Sanderson 1942
  33. George A. Lundberg 1943
  34. Rupert B. Vance 1944
  35. Kimball Young 1945
  36. Carl C. Taylor 1946
  37. Louis Wirth 1947
  38. E. Franklin Frazier 1948
  39. Talcott Parsons 1949
  40. Leonard S. Cottrell Jr. 1950
  41. Robert C. Angell 1951
  42. Dorothy Swaine Thomas 1952
  43. Samuel A. Stouffer 1953
  44. Florian Znaniecki 1954
  45. Donald Young 1955
  46. Herbert Blumer 1956
  47. Robert K. Merton 1957
  48. Robin M. Williams Jr. 1958
  49. Kingsley Davis 1959
  50. Howard P. Becker 1960 (died in office)
  51. Robert E. L. Faris 1961
  52. Paul Lazarsfeld 1962
  53. Everett C. Hughes 1963
  54. George C. Homans 1964
  55. Pitirim A. Sorokin 1965
  56. Wilbert E. Moore 1966
  57. Charles P. Loomis 1967
  58. Philip M. Hauser 1968
  59. Arnold Marshall Rose 1969 (died in office)
  60. Ralph Turner 1969
  61. Reinhard Bendix 1970
  62. William H. Sewell 1971
  63. William J. Goode 1972
  64. Mirra Komarovsky 1973
  65. Peter M. Blau 1974
  66. Lewis A. Coser 1975
  67. Alfred McClung Lee 1976
  68. John Milton Yinger 1977
  69. Amos H. Hawley 1978
  70. Hubert M. Blalock Jr. 1979
  71. Peter H. Rossi 1980
  72. William Foote Whyte 1981
  73. Erving Goffman 1982
  74. Alice S. Rossi 1983
  75. James F. Short Jr. 1984
  76. Kai T. Erikson 1985
  77. Matilda White Riley 1986
  78. Melvin L. Kohn 1987
  79. Herbert J. Gans 1988
  80. Joan Huber 1989
  81. William Julius Wilson 1990
  82. Stanley Lieberson 1991
  83. James S. Coleman 1992
  84. Seymour Martin Lipset 1993
  85. William A. Gamson 1994
  86. Amitai Etzioni 1995
  87. Maureen T. Hallinan 1996
  88. Neil Smelser 1997
  89. Jill Quadagno 1998
  90. Alejandro Portes 1999
  91. Joe R. Feagin 2000
  92. Douglas S. Massey 2001
  93. Barbara F. Reskin 2002
  94. William T. Bielby 2003
  95. Michael Burawoy 2004
  96. Troy Duster 2005
  97. Cynthia Fuchs Epstein 2006
  98. Frances Fox Piven 2007
  99. Arne L. Kalleberg 2008
  100. Patricia Hill Collins 2009
  101. Evelyn Nakano Glenn 2010
  102. Randall Collins 2011
  103. Erik Olin Wright 2012
  104. Cecilia L. Ridgeway 2013
  105. Annette Lareau 2014
  106. Paula England 2015
  107. Ruth Milkman 2016
  108. Michèle Lamont 2017
  109. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva 2018
  110. Mary Romero 2019
  111. Christine Williams 2020
  112. Aldon Morris 2021
  113. Cecilia Menjívar 2022
  114. Prudence Carter 2023
  115. Joya Misra 2024

Meetings

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The Annual Meeting of the ASA is held each August to provide opportunity for sociologists to share research, develop professional networks, give awards, and hold committee meetings.[18] The 2023 meeting had 4,802 attendees and featured 3000 research papers.[19]

Awards

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Every year, in August, the ASA presents awards to individuals and groups deserving of recognition. The awards presented are:[20]

Additionally, the Sections of the ASA administer separate multiple awards, which are presented each August during the annual meeting.[21]

Controversies

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Jailing of Rik Scarce

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In 1993, then-doctoral student Rik Scarce was jailed for more than five months as a result of following the ASA's code of ethics. Scarce's Ph.D. research was on the radical environmental movement. Based on an FBI investigation of an Animal Liberation Front break-in, federal prosecutors argued in court that Scarce may have engaged in conversations with individuals believed to be involved with the incident. Prosecutors demanded that Scarce testify to a federal grand jury about those conversations, but Scarce refused to answer three dozen questions, citing the ASA Code of Ethics and the First Amendment as his reasoning for remaining unresponsive.[22] Scarce's refusal to answer resulted in a contempt of court citation and 159 days spent in jail. He was never suspected of wrongdoing and—in keeping with contempt of court practice—he was never read his Miranda rights, arrested, or tried.[23]

Frances Fox Piven and Glenn Beck

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In early 2010, ASA publicly expressed outrage over a controversy involving Frances Fox Piven and Glenn Beck, asking Fox News to stop Beck's comments.[24] An article written by Piven concerning mobilization of unemployed individuals had spurred the commentary by Beck.[25] ASA suggests in their public statements that the line should be drawn at name calling and that political commentators should instead rely on gathering evidence related to the topics and then drawing the proper conclusions.

The Belfast Project

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In January 2012, a United States district court ordered Boston College to turn over material from the "Belfast Project", an oral history project pertaining to the violence in Northern Ireland. Boston College filed an appeal in February 2012, challenging the district court's decision. ASA became involved in the case to help protect human participants from the subpoena of confidential project research data.[26] The statement by the ASA council cited the potential damage this ruling would have on social science research by stifling the ability to study controversial topics. ASA is looking for an affirmation by the court for confidentiality in research.[27]

Sociologists for Palestine resolution

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From 2023 to 2024, in response to the war in Gaza sociologists organized to request that the American Sociological Association establish a stance calling for a ceasefire and pursuing divestment from arms.[28] In December 2023, a letter signed by 125 sociologists including six former ASA presidents, asked for a statement in support of ceasefire.[28] In February 2024, the association released a statement focusing on "deep concern and dismay regarding the loss of civilian lives in the context of continued violence in Gaza and Israel as well as other contexts of conflict and suffering unfolding across the globe.”[28] In March 2024, ASA rejected a resolution forwarded by a group known as Sociologists for Palestine which called for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza".[28] After this initial resolution was rejected, enough signatures were collected to support a ballot initiative calling for a ceasefire and divestment from military technologies, however the ASA council edited the request for divestment from the resolution claiming that investment represented an "operational issue" which members could not vote on.[28] The Sociologists for Palestine group responded to this by declaring that the council's removal of the divestment request from the resolution was "fundamentally undemocratic".[28] In May 2024, 59% of voting ASA members approved the Resolution for Justice in Palestine and it was adopted.[29] Beyond calling for "an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza", the adopted resolution specifies that the association "supports members’ academic freedom, including but not limited to defending scholars’ right to speak out against Zionist occupation."[30]

Critique

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Within the Environmental sociology section of the ASA, in 2016 an ad hoc Committee on Racial Equity investigated racial and ethnic diversity within the section in response to critique that the section was overwhelmingly white. Their assessment of the professional climate for scholars of colour concluded that the section was a 'white space' characterized by the overwhelming presence of whites and dominated by white leadership. They concluded that this situation acts as a barrier to inclusion of people of colour in the field, and that the field of environmental justice was likewise marginalised.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ASA Membership, 20-Year Trends | American Sociological Association".
  2. ^ Hill, Michael R. (2007). "American Sociological Association". In Ritzer, George (ed.). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. pp. 130–134. doi:10.1111/b.9781405124331.2007.x (inactive 2024-04-02). hdl:10138/224218. ISBN 9781405124331.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link)
  3. ^ "Membership Trend". International Sociological Association.
  4. ^ "[1]." ASA Membership Trends. Retrieved on 5 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Organization of the American Sociological Society". American Journal of Sociology. 11 (4): 555–569. 1906. doi:10.1086/211421. ISSN 0002-9602. JSTOR 2762565.
  6. ^ Veditz, C. W. A. (1906). "The American Sociological Society". American Journal of Sociology. 11 (5): 681–682. doi:10.1086/211435. ISSN 0002-9602. JSTOR 2762811.
  7. ^ a b "About ASA." American Sociological Association. Retrieved on 31 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b Small, Albion W. (1916). "Fifty Years of Sociology in the United States (1865-1915)". American Journal of Sociology. 21 (6): 784–785. doi:10.1086/212570. ISSN 0002-9602. JSTOR 2763629.
  9. ^ a b "History." American Sociological Association, The ASA Story. Retrieved on 31 March 2020.
  10. ^ "A 1953 Recording of the American Sociological Society Past Presidents." American Sociological Association. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  11. ^ "ASA Membership Trends". American Sociological Association.
  12. ^ "Task Force on Membership". American Sociological Association.
  13. ^ "American Sociological Association: ASA Wikipedia Initiative" (PDF). Asanet.org. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  14. ^ "Ethics". American Sociological Association.
  15. ^ "American Sociological Association: Journals". Asanet.org. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  16. ^ "Footnotes Advertising". American Sociological Association. 9 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Presidents". asanet.org. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Annual Meeting". Asanet.org. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  19. ^ "ASA Footnotes 2023 Year in Review" (PDF). Asanet.org. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  20. ^ "American Sociological Association: Awards". Asanet.org. 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  21. ^ "American Sociological Association: Awards". Asanet.org. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  22. ^ Rik Scarce. (2003). Contempt of Court: A Scholar's Battle for Free Speech from behind Bars. ISBN 0759106436.
  23. ^ "American Sociological Association: Teaching Ethics Throughout the Curriculum, Ethics, Teaching, Teaching Ethics to Students". Asanet.org. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  24. ^ American Sociological Association: ASA Officers Respond to Attacks on Frances Fox Piven. Archived May 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine January 24, 2011.
  25. ^ The Editors (2011-01-20). "Glenn Beck Targets Frances Fox Piven". The Nation. Retrieved 2012-05-03. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2012-05-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ "ASA Opposes Subpoena of 'Belfast Project' Data". American Sociological Association (Press release). 22 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  28. ^ a b c d e f Quinn, Ryan. "Leaders of Sociology Group Resist Call for Ceasefire Resolution". Inside Higher Ed.
  29. ^ "Sociological Association Calls for Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. May 23, 2024.
  30. ^ "Resolution for Justice in Palestine | American Sociological Association".
  31. ^ Liévanos, Raoul S.; Wilder, Elisabeth; Richter, Lauren; Carrera, Jennifer; Mascarenhas, Michael (2021-04-03). "Challenging the white spaces of environmental sociology". Environmental Sociology. 7 (2): 103–109. Bibcode:2021EnvSo...7..103L. doi:10.1080/23251042.2021.1902665.
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