Disciplinary Futures: Sociology in Conversation with American, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies

Reimagines how race, ethnicity, imperialism, and colonialism can be central to social science research and methods. Offers concrete pathways for how the social sciences can expand from the limiting frameworks they traditionally use to study race and racism. Sociology has many useful questions, methodologies, and approaches to offer scholars of American, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 20 June 2023
Publisher: New York University Press

The impact of colonialism, imperialism, racism, and ethnicism on social science research and methodologies is a topic of increasing interest and importance. In Disciplinary Futures, a collection of essays by scholars from various disciplines, including American, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies, the authors argue that these paradigms can be central to understanding the complex social structures and dynamics that shape our world.

The essays in Disciplinary Futures offer concrete pathways for how the social sciences can expand from the limiting frameworks they traditionally use to study race and racism. These frameworks often rely on the black-white binary, the privileging of the nation-state, the fixation on the US mainland, the underappreciation of post- and settler-colonial studies, the liberal assumptions, and the limited conception of what constitutes data. By challenging these frameworks, the contributors to Disciplinary Futures reveal that sociology has many useful questions, methodologies, and approaches to offer scholars of American, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies.

One of the key themes of the book is the importance of decolonizing social science research and methodologies. The authors argue that colonialism and imperialism have created a hierarchical structure that privileges Western knowledge and perspectives, while marginalizing and oppressing non-Western cultures and communities. To address this, the contributors suggest that social science research should be more interdisciplinary, collaborative, and reflexive, and should prioritize the voices and experiences of marginalized communities.

Another important theme of the book is the need to recognize the interconnectedness of social structures and processes across different geographic and cultural contexts. The contributors argue that race, ethnicity, and imperialism are not isolated phenomena but are deeply embedded in social, economic, and political systems that operate on a global scale. By studying these interconnectedness, social science research can better understand the complex dynamics of power and inequality that shape our world.

In addition to offering concrete pathways for how the social sciences can expand from the limiting frameworks they traditionally use, the contributors to Disciplinary Futures also reveal that sociology has many useful questions, methodologies, and approaches to offer scholars of American, Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies. For example, sociology can provide valuable insights into the experiences of marginalized communities, such as the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and indigenous peoples. Sociology can also provide valuable tools for analyzing social structures and processes, such as social network analysis and qualitative research methods.

Overall, Disciplinary Futures is an important work that renders these disciplines more intellectually expansive and thus better able to tackle urgent issues of injustice. By decolonizing social science research and methodologies, recognizing the interconnectedness of social structures and processes, and prioritizing the voices and experiences of marginalized communities, the book offers a roadmap for how the social sciences can contribute to a more just and equitable world.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479819034