Abandon canon in American sociology
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
ISSN: 0144-333X
Article publication date: 28 May 2019
Issue publication date: 28 May 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the practice of having, using and constructing any canon in sociological theory. This paper argues that the elitism of American sociology and the forms of inequality it engenders are sustained by the construction of a canon itself.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a conceptual approach to examine the problems of research practice, academic writing, inequality and empirical translation that canonical thinking engenders within the academy and beyond.
Findings
Reflecting on the problems outlined, this paper articulates a more democratic agenda for treating canon in research and education by drawing upon standards of practice in ethnography, participatory action research and Southern Theory.
Originality/value
This paper interrogates the relations of domination that remain at work in the discipline and that which concern the elite position of American sociology itself.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to the editor as well as the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.
Citation
Au, A. (2019), "Abandon canon in American sociology", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 39 No. 5/6, pp. 494-504. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-02-2019-0049
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited