Across the nation, politicians are interfering in educational decisions that should appropriately be made by subject matter experts. In Florida, for example, sociology was removed from the general education core course options by the Board of Governors, despite the recommendation of an expert panel of faculty. Educational gag order laws have been passed in many states, and similar bills are currently under consideration. Several states have executive orders or other forms of policy restricting what can be taught in classrooms. At the heart of these gag orders is the subject matter sociologists teach, including inequality, race, gender, and sexuality. The current political movement against so-called “divisive concepts” is in fact an existential threat to our discipline. The best way to fight these attacks is to demonstrate to voters and policymakers the value of the work we do. That is the goal of the Value of Sociology Initiative.
This initiative provides resources to sociologists to empower them to advocate and defend. It also relies on our community to provide stories that demonstrate the value of sociology.
What resources are available to support sociologists in advocating for the value of sociology?
Are you interested in writing an op-ed? Click here for practical guidance and effective examples written by our colleagues. Be sure to view the recording of a workshop on op-ed writing led by Dr. Stacy Torres, University of California-San Francisco, where you can learn the basics of op-ed writing. The workshop was planned jointly by ASA’s Political Sociology Section, Sociological Practice and Public Sociology Section, and Sociologists for Women in Society.
Are you interested in communicating directly with legislators and other policymakers? Click here for information about how to track legislation, find your legislators, schedule and prepare for meetings, and more. And join us on May 9, 1:00-2:00 p.m. Eastern for a webinar (also recorded for future listening) that is designed to support those confronting attacks on sociology at the state level as well as anyone interested in raising awareness about the value of the discipline for students, communities, or society as a whole. The workshop will feature staff from the National Humanities Alliance who lead advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and support advocacy on campuses around the country as well as a campus-based government relations officer with expertise in advocacy at the state level.
Do you need to know how to protect yourself when you’re under attack? We recognize that sociologists have experience harassment, doxing, and other challenges due to their work as sociologists. Click here for practical advice for managing these frightening and overwhelming situations.
Do you want to learn more from your colleagues? Join us at the Annual Meeting in Montreal for a plenary session (which will also be livestreamed and recorded for viewing at your convenience) on academic freedom, featuring experts on the legislative agenda, how attacks on academic freedom have operated in various contexts, and how to respond to these attacks. There will also be a Thematic Session featuring scholars who have experienced challenges to academic freedom, and a PEN America workshop on “Academic Freedom and Inclusion: Tools to Uphold Both.”
Do you want access to stories about the value of sociology to deploy in your advocacy efforts? See below! Join the effort.
How can you help us collect stories to demonstrate the value of sociology? We’ll collect and curate these stories that will be disseminated in a number of formats across various outlets for the public and policymakers, and we’ll make these stories available to sociologists to use as tools in their own advocacy efforts.
Are you a scholar who has done work that has made an impact? Impacts might include influencing policy change at local or broader levels or doing research that has raised awareness about current social problems, such as disparities in access to healthcare or affordable housing. Impacts might also include applying research methods in new ways or giving a talk at your local library that provides members of the community with tools for better managing teen social media use. Share your impact story here.
Are you a current high school, undergraduate, or graduate student of sociology who has learned something specific in a sociology class that helped you better understand our social world of your own life and experience? See students’ winning submissions to ASA’s TikTok/Instagram contest.
Are you a former undergraduate student who majored in or took a sociology class and are using your sociological knowledge in interesting and productive ways? Share your story with us. [Please send this to your former students or relevant other people you know.]
If there are any other resources ASA might provide that you think would be helpful in empowering sociologists to advocate for and defend sociology or other ideas for how we can demonstrate the value of sociology, please let us know.
