Outsider Scholars and Outsider Sociologists

Abstract

If we take the time to look at the academy writ large and sociology as a discipline specifically, we can readily find the evidence to confirm a long-standing exclusion of certain scholars from the academic mainstream. This exclusion is especially evident in the case of scholars of color, but also includes women, nonelites (e.g., college and graduate students who lack academic social capital from elders who have been through it and could help), and those who wish to push for a more humanist scientific agenda over purist positivist science. Sexism and racism keep us from seeing the best of our ideas emerge to bring the discipline forward. As if the pursuit of good work and good works are mutually exclusive, an embrace of purist positivism leads us to shun antiracist, antisexist, nonhumanist science, labeling it "advocacy" or worse, "activist," and conversely, ceding ground to those who wrap themselves in "objectivity" even as they may further regressive agendas. This article makes a case for the existence of an "outsider scholar," and outlines sociology's outsider problem. I argue that this problem endures at all levels of the academic endeavor, from undergraduate education all the way through to the ranks of administration. I conclude by offering remedies to lead us toward a more inclusive and social justice-oriented sociology.

The Practice of Decolonizing Migration Studies

“…Du Bois, now widely recognized as a disciplinary founder who developed many of the methods we now use to describe social reality (Morris 2017), in the end gave up on the idea that science can objectively look at the marginalized and let its progressive elite scientists speak, let alone represent well the subaltern (Bashi Treitler 2019;Spivak 1988;Steinberg 2016). Too, Kenneth Clark and Derek Bell both rejected optimism and embraced despair about the transformative power of the intellectual enterprise and the staying power of justice (Steinberg 2016).…”

“…Through their grantsmanship, the power elite sponsor a coterie of doctoral students who remain loyal to their patrons and are rewarded with positions in leading universities. As for the nettlesome critics whose aim is to “decolonize sociology”, despite their scholarly productivity and their passion and conviction, their influence within sociology is marginal at best (Steinberg 2017:547).Du Bois, now widely recognized as a disciplinary founder who developed many of the methods we now use to describe social reality (Morris 2017), in the end gave up on the idea that science can objectively look at the marginalized and let its progressive elite scientists speak, let alone represent well the subaltern (Bashi Treitler 2019; Spivak 1988; Steinberg 2016). Too, Kenneth Clark and Derek Bell both rejected optimism and embraced despair about the transformative power of the intellectual enterprise and the staying power of justice (Steinberg 2016).…”

Working in unprecedented times: Intersectionality and women of color in UK higher education in and beyond the pandemic

“…Third, women of color tend to be invisible or made silent in institutional settings. Black academics are frequently allocated outsider status (Treitler, 2019), rarely considered a part of the intellectual community and generally excluded from important decision‐making processes.…”

Sociology Engaged in Social Justice

“…The institutional practices of doing sociology affect the nature of sociological knowledge. 13 We must recognize the harm that exclusion and elitism have done to the production of knowledge—to what is considered “sociology.” As Morris (2017:208) noted,“[s]cholars from resource-poor institutions are unlikely to present at our conferences” and “this lack of contact leaves both elite and non-elite scholars intellectually impoverished because they cannot mutually enrich each other’s sociological imagination.” The hierarchy of outsider and insider sociologists is reproduced through everyday practices in our universities, departments, conferences, publishing, and associations (Treitler 2019). “To decolonize means to reverse this tide of bureaucratization” and “obsessive concern with the periodic and quantitative assessment of every facet of university functioning” (Mbembe 2016:31).…”