Women and extra-academic social research in Sweden 1900–1950: A sociology of knowledge approach

Abstract

How should we understand the academization of the social sciences around the turn of the twentieth century with regard to gender? In this article I argue in favour of a contextually broadened sociology of knowledge approach which highlights the importance of women's extra-academic social research as a parallel and interconnected form of social knowledge to the new and male-dominated academic social sciences. Theoretically, the approach combines three perspectives: field theory, social movements research and historical studies of knowledge circulation. Empirically and methodologically, the study is prosopographically centred around nine female social researchers in Sweden 1900-1950 with an analytical focus on their aggregated career patterns, the gender-coded mechanisms of academic exclusion that were at play and three types of alternative arenas that were available for extra-academic social research during the period. It is concluded that we need to take this form of extra-academic social research into account to better understand the dynamics of the field of social knowledge as a whole, including the development of academic social science.

From pure academics to transformative scholars? The crisis of the “ideal academic” in a Peruvian university

“…However, research on the forms of institutionalization within sociology has shown that gender exclusion can occur through different, more subtle mechanisms (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2006; Thomas & Kukulan, 2004). This partly stems from the fact there are more women in sociology than in the technical sciences (Mósesdóttir, 2011; Turner & Bowen, 1999; Wisselgren, 2021). This lower inequality is coupled with Latin American sociology's openness to progressive ideas (Rochabrún, 1992; Rosenmann, 2018).…”

“…Along these lines, we should highlight the importance of symbolic struggles: those in a disadvantaged situation might use their position to challenge and reshape what the “ideal academic” looks like. Hence, we take inspiration from the work of Benschop and Brouns (Benschop & Brouns, 2003) on how the model based on the lone male scientist, could be opposed by one focused on “greater public accountability, social responsibility and transparency.” More recently, Wisselgren (2021) has shown how, during the process of academicization and masculinization of Swedish social sciences, women kept on researching and publishing, albeit in alternative, extra‐academic channels, developing politically committed and innovative works.…”

Introduction: Knowledge Making, Everyday Life, and Gendered Scientific/Scholarly Personae

“…With Christopher Burke's and Günther Sandner's biographical account of Marie wanted to enter as a woman in the 1970s. 14 It was only later in life after achieving recognition and fame that Lerner wrote an autobiography that recounted her struggles as a refugee and her commitment to communist activism during the 1950s and provided at least a glimpse into her housekeeping arrangements as a wife and mother.…”