Nice post about possible career paths for sociologists by April Schuets, on SociologyInFocus: Do sociologists work outside universities?
Committing Sociology 
This will be a seminar series in 2013/2014 – watch this space!
Humanity on a Budget, or the ‘Value-Added’ of Being Human
This piece is dedicated to Stefan Stern, who picked up on – and ran with – a remark I made at this year’s Brain Bar Budapest, concerning the need for a ‘value-added’ account of being ‘human’ in a world in… Read More ›
#icanhazpdf
This new way of finding articles is cool. Three people sent me this link in the last few days (two mathematicians and one social scientist). It’s not new, but it is the first sign of organisation spreading beyond social scientists’… Read More ›
Is Socialism Really Different from Capitalism or Simply a Theory about It?
One problem that we have as teachers of sociology and social theory is that we are so quick to assert our authority that we end up inhibiting the honest and probing questions from our supposedly ignorant students. Nevertheless, these questions… Read More ›
Why do you #lovesociology?
The ASA have launched a new project, Speak for Sociology, asking people on social media: why do you #lovesociology? ASA wants to know why you love sociology. We want to hear from sociologists in all fields, at all levels, at a… Read More ›
Academic Conference Panels: Academia’s Microcosm
Academic conference panels normally consist of three speakers, who are optimally arranged as follows: The first speaker is normal and predictable. He or she gives the textbook expectation of the topic under discussion. The second speaker is dopey and forgettable…. Read More ›
CfP: My Day Job: Politics and Pedagogy in Academia
2016 Annual Meeting EASTERN SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY CALL FOR PAPERS My Day Job: Politics and Pedagogy in Academia The Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers, March 17-20, 2016 The online abstract submission system for the ESS annual meeting is now open… Read More ›
Why we should be shoppers – not disciples – in intellectual matters
However much it offends their narcissistic natures, most academics are disciples of one or maybe 2-3 masters. This applies across all the disciplines, though the nature of the discipleship differs among them. In the human sciences, which tend to collapse… Read More ›
The case for a philosophical sociology
by Daniel Chernilo (featured in the newsletter of the European Sociological Association, Summer 2015 Issue 38) In this short intervention, I offer a plea for sociology’s reengagement with philosophy. To be sure, the extent to which their ties have severed… Read More ›
Our most popular posts this month
A feminist leaves the neoliberal university Congrats, you did not cite any feminist work! CfP: Beyond the Master’s Tools Connected and disconnected writing The place of sociology in the Second Machine Age The Fetishisation of Intelligence Under Neoliberalism PREVENT will… Read More ›
Transhumanism’s Big Political Blind Spot
For those who still don’t know what it is, transhumanism is basically the application of science and technology to amplify the human condition, potentially well beyond our biological default settings. As someone who has increasingly identified with transhumanism since publishing… Read More ›
Alt-academic careers #1: Benjamin Geer
By Benjamin Geer I left a successful career as a software developer in London to study Arabic and do a PhD in Middle East Studies. I then had a traditional one-year visiting assistant professor job (in Egypt) and a traditional… Read More ›
The Power of Perception: Common Sense or Nonsense
(HT Robert MacDonald)
Counter-factualising hypothesising
In recent months, I’ve become fascinated by Design Fiction as a potential tool for Sociologists. Related to this is the question of counter-factuality: can we use fiction to explore hypotheses about what would have happened if … in a way… Read More ›
Committing Sociology: open-access essays from @TheSocReview
For the last few months, I’ve been curating a series of essays for The Sociological Review’s website, reflecting on the future of the discipline and related issues. Here are the initial essays: Sociology’s Dual Horizons by David Beer Are We… Read More ›
The Future of Social Critique
Videos of the talks from this seminar at Loughborough:
Do professional associations compete to make their conference the most inaccessible to ECRs?
If so then it seems the British Sociological Association win. This interesting and provocative post about the British International Studies Association (BISA) conference bemoans its exclusionary price: If you were to ask a handful of early career scholars for their… Read More ›
Government Interference in Academia
Last week there was a conference that took place at the University of Bath: Understanding Conflict: Research, ideas and responses to security threats. The programme included : – The Historiography of Terrorism by Marc Sageman, former CIA Operations Officer –… Read More ›
Traditional public sociology vs organic public sociology
Another interesting passage from the Open Letter to C. Wright Mills by Michael Burawoy: But how should we talk to publics? Your modus operandi, I have to tell you this, is to talk down to publics. You place yourself above… Read More ›
The Scholastic Fallacy of C. Wright Mills
In a fascinating paper from 2008, Michael Burawoy wrote an Open Letter to C. Wright Mills. You can read it online here but I wanted to share this insightful passage which stood out to me: But recognizing the link between… Read More ›
Why is social science communication so underdeveloped compared to natural science communication?
The evidence included below is rather crude but it lends support to my impression that social science communication lags far behind natural science communication. The former isn’t taken seriously as a specialist role (frustrating for someone like me who increasingly thinks of myself… Read More ›
A conversation with Lisa Mckenzie about sociology, activism and sociological activism
I recorded this interview with Lisa Mckenzie last month, a few weeks before the general election in which she was standing as a challenger to Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford. We cover a lot of ground in the discussion but… Read More ›
Boyhood in Neoliberal Times: The ‘Crisis of Masculinity’ Debate, Post-industrialisation, and Identity Work
by Garth Stahl In the late 20th/early 21st century, many scholars (Mac an Ghaill, 1994; Fine, Weis, Addelston, & Marusza, 1997; Weis, 2004; Nayak, 2003; 2006) have cited the massive societal shifts in economic and gender-relations which have resulted in… Read More ›
The Future of Social Critique
Collaborative Seminar, at Loughborough University on 2 June 2015 This Day event will take place in the James France Building, room CC021, from 10.30-4.30pm – 2 June 2015, and will focus on the Future of Social Critique. The event was… Read More ›
Making The Familiar Strange: A Festival of Critical Ideas
Last week I attended re: publica in Berlin for the first time. For those not familiar with it, it’s a vast conference about internet and society incorporating activists, journalists, hackers, academics, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in a melange of sessions… Read More ›
The sociology of climate change (in blues format)!
by Bill Carroll In January 2015, scientists recorded atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide above 400 parts per million on a regular basis – the first time such a level had been reached so early in the calendar year. It… Read More ›
The Promise of Sociological Fiction
It’s been far from obvious to me what I should say for my talk at the Design Fiction event at Goldsmiths on Wednesday. The motivation behind this event has been little more than “isn’t this interesting? let’s talk about it”… Read More ›
Five ways to deal with 5 years of a Conservative government
An excellent post by Rebecca Winson on the CLASS blog. Important advice for left-wing sociologists in the UK who are currently in a state of mild despair: If you’re in work – or maybe even if you’re not – join… Read More ›
Opening up @soc_imagination as a platform for public engagement
In my talk at the Digital Sociology conference in New York in February 2015 (available online here) I explained my enthusiasm for the new possibilities afforded by social media for doing research in real time with communities. These are the… Read More ›