Diary of a Mad Social Scientist

Abstract

My professional home has always been in the Association for Humanist Sociology (AHS). AHS asks that its authors and presenters give a reflexive statement to help contextualize their work for the audience. Here's mine. I originally wrote this piece for a collection entitled Sociologists in Action, edited by friends and colleagues Jonathan White, Shelley White, and Kathleen Korgen. But I found it hard to find the right voice to talk about my own work as a sociologist ‘in action” or to somehow argue for being an activist sociologist. I only found a comfortable narrative when I started chronicling what I did to try to integrate my interests in political work and organizing with education, scholarship, and social relationships of all kinds. I don't mean this piece to be self-indulgent in demonstrating how hard I work (I imagine we all do), how smart I work (I imagine most of you are much smarter), or what a great dad or husband I am (I am sure many of you are better parents and spouses—just ask my wife and kids). But I feel confident that buried in this piece are stories of how we as engaged and applied sociologists integrate sociological knowledge and practice with our students, our peers, our campuses, our communities, and even our most intimate friends and families. Sociology is not why we live our lives—but it informs how we live our lives. It offers intellectual, political, pedagogical, and even social and behavioral tools to create democratic institutions and relationships, all in the hopes of creating a better world around us for our students, for our campuses, for our communities, for our families, and for ourselves. And that, I think, is why we live our lives.