Theorists in Sociology

Instructions
I’m taking a course called “Social Theory” this semester. Since there are many fascinating theoretical orientations/theorists, the professor decided to let students vote on which theorists will be covered in class.

Before voting, each student has to write a brief paragraph explaining why he/she wants to talk about that particular theorist in class and why others should choose his/her suggestion. Today, I’d like you to write that paragraph.

Please pick one theorist from down below and write a brief paragraph explaining why he/she should be covered in class (Don’t forget to provide an article written by him/her that you particularly want to use in class!!!)

Cael M. Keegan, Eve Sedgewick, Judith Butler, Kimberle Crenshaw, Jennifer Nash, Maxine Bacca Zinn, Nancy Fraser, Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, Mari Matsuda, Kehaulani Kauanui, Gloria Anzaldua, Martha Cotera, Cherrie Moraga, etc.

The following are examples. You should take a close look at them and find out how your paragraph should look like and how long your article should be. You are encouraged to choose a theorist that isn’t used as examples.

(1)I would like to suggest that as a class we examine the work of Kimberle Crenshaw. As a Black woman Crenshaw will be able to provide a prospective that we have not yet learned about in our class. Crenshaw is widely known as the person who coined the term intersectionality. While we have focused on theorists who have covered a variety of social issues, Crenshaw introducing the fact that there can be many forms of intersectionality and this influences individual experiences. As the conversation surrounding intersectionality continues to progress today, I believe that Crenshaw can not only provide a new perspective to the current conversation we are having surrounding theorist in our class, but also be relevant to discussions we will have in the future. Additionally, as a Black woman Crenshaw can provide a different perspective from the theorist that we have studied so far in the course through lived experiences.
This particular article looks into the intersectionality of racism and sexism Black women experience.
Mapping the Margins: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bs8md.30

(2)Amy S. Wharton is the theorist I’d like for us to read but what I want us to read is chapter 4 in her book titled The sociology of Gender: An Introduction to Theory and Research. the chapter is titled work and family as gendered institutions and the reason I think it would be beneficial to the class because in our class, we’ve read about the division of labor but in a different context that left gender out. by reading this chapter we’d be able to include the sexual division of labor which is the process through which tasks are assigned on the basis of sex, and maybe compare or apply it to how it may relate to or challenge Durkheim’s outlook on the division of labor. In the chapter, it talks a lot about how the paid workplace represents competition, rationality, and achievement which have been attached to men whereas the home is seen as a ‘haven’ that represents purity, domesticity, and submissiveness and those characteristics have been attached to women. I also think after reading this chapter we’d also see some of Charolette Perkins Gilman’s feminist theories.

(3)Andrea Smith worked as a rape crisis counselor for Native American communities.Through her work within the community she wants to prove “that sexual violence in Native communities was inextricably linked to processes of genocide and colonization. Here she saw the importance in developing theories that focus on the intersections of state and colonial violence and gender violence. Further she specifically looks at Native women and the relationship with feminism. She explains why indigenous women activist reject feminist policies, which assumes the hold of US colony on indigenous nations. In this she interviews many women about feminism within the indigenous community, as well as why the feminist theories to not account for native nations.
https://shibbolethsp.jstor.org/start?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp.depauw.edu%2Fopenathens&dest=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20459010&site=jstor

(4)For my student choice I chose the theorist Janneke F. Joly because her focus is centered on how environment shapes our norms and specifically she wrote an article called “The Norm-Activating Power of Celebrity: The Dynamics of Success and Influence”. For me personally, I think that the celebrity culture and how it interacts within society is so fascinating especially in the age of the Kardashians. Her theory and research is on the social influence of celebrities and how they are “role models in the sense that they can bring about changes in attitudes and beliefs in the audience”. I think this is a really interesting theorist and article because of the way she focuses on how the environment and consumption of environment affects us and our society, as well as what constructs are being activated and which ones aren’t. In our everyday lives celebrities play such a role so I feel like a lot of people in the class would find this interesting and relatable.

(5)I present Ulrich Beck The Anthropological Shock: Chernobyl And The Contours Of The Risk Society as one of our student choice readings. To provide background, Ulrich Beck was a German Sociologist who focused on posing questions about the modern world within his lifetime. The article that I choose is his own coined term “risk society” applied to Chernobyl. The application of “risk society” through Chernobyl Beck notes is important, as prior to the catastrophic event his book flaunting this term was overlooked. Beck discusses the popular sociologist idea that is the means of production and it’s dividing properties to set up his idea that we have been disenfranchised by losing “sovereignty over our sense” that individuals have only been made aware of during and after Chernobyl. The article then follows how Chernobyl has displayed Beck’s “risk society” played out and how society has changed in order to manage, prevent, and mitigate risks to society. I think we should choose this article because risk society is a state that I feel like is a very real lived experience I have especially with our current global political climate.
https://shibbolethsp.jstor.org/start?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp.depauw.edu%2Fopenathens&dest=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41035363&site=jstor