http://contexts.org/articles/fall-2008/about-74/ Contexts is a quarterly magazine that makes sociology interesting and relevant to anyone interested in how society operates. It is a publication of the American Sociological Association, edited by Jodi O’Brien (Seattle University) and Arlene Stein (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey). Tue, 15 May 2012 04:20:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://contexts.org/articles/fall-2008/about-74/comment-page-1/#comment-4306 gradskewl Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:47:31 +0000 http://contexts.org/articles/?p=190#comment-4306 The institutional organization of sociology is, in a certain sense, highly "conservative". The sociology job market has rather stark inequalities and the name of your degree-granting institution seems to hold unusual weight. Sociology, unlike disciplines in the "natural sciences", places unusual importance on single-author papers. Seriously, find any other discipline with so many single-author paper in good journals. Perhaps more than many other disciplines the organizational logic of sociology focuses on individual scholarship at the expense of collaboration and diffuse authorship. To me, this suggests that on an organization or institutional level sociology is more "conservative" even if the politics of individual sociologists tend to be more leftist or socialist. The institutional organization of sociology is, in a certain sense, highly “conservative”. The sociology job market has rather stark inequalities and the name of your degree-granting institution seems to hold unusual weight. Sociology, unlike disciplines in the “natural sciences”, places unusual importance on single-author papers. Seriously, find any other discipline with so many single-author paper in good journals. Perhaps more than many other disciplines the organizational logic of sociology focuses on individual scholarship at the expense of collaboration and diffuse authorship. To me, this suggests that on an organization or institutional level sociology is more “conservative” even if the politics of individual sociologists tend to be more leftist or socialist.

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