Archive: Dec 2020

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Shai Dromi, a lecturer of Sociology at Harvard University and author of the recently published Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector (2020). In our conversation, Shai introduces us to the work of Luc Boltanski and discusses how he found inspiration in Boltanski’s theorizing of communication and morality. Shai also helps us better understand the value of Boltanski’s ideas through introducing his co-authored research on how advertisers make sense of the moral worth of their jobs and his in-progress co-authored book on how morality emerged as a  point of contention or has been obscured in our key disciplinary debates.

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In this episode we are joined by Jeff Guhin, an assistant professor of sociology at UCLA, and author of the recently published Agents of God: Boundaries and Authority in Muslim and Christian Schools. Jeff discusses the inspiration he finds in the works of Charles Taylor, reflects on the value and challenges of reading philosophy as a sociologist, the importance of having friends, and introduces us to social imaginaries and “subtraction stories.”

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In this episode, Dr. Tina Sikka, a Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Newcastle University and author of Climate Technology, Gender, and Justice,  joins us to read from Helen Longino‘s ‘Can There Be A Feminist Science’ (1987).

Tina introduces us to Longino’s central question about what makes a science feminist, guides us through Longino’s rejection of answering the question through focus on topic or object, helps us understand the focus on process, and highlights Longino’s attention to structural constraints.

Follow along HERE.

-Kyle-

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In this episode we are joined by Neil Gong. Neil is an assistant professor of sociology at UC San Diego, a member of the Michigan Society of Fellows, and winner of the 2020 American Sociological Association’s Junior Theorist of the Year award. In our conversation, Neil introduces the work of Norbert Elias, reflects on both the challenges and inspirations of his historical writing and grand theory, and discusses how the concept of the ‘threshold of repugnance’ provided guidance in Neil’s ethnography of ‘no-rules’ combat clubs.

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