Civic Sociology

Abstract

In this adaptation of my Presidential Address I celebrate the sociology inspired by the tradition of progressive social reform. The focus on civic engagement that instigated inquiry into the causes and reasons for social problems remains an important resource for learning. I describe how my own journey from social investigator, witness, and activist not only shaped how and what I studied, but how and what I taught. Three student tales illustrate how service learning combines insight and action to foster social understanding that inspires practical reform.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is adapted from my Presidential Address delivered at the Midwest Sociological Society, Des Moines, IA, in April 2008. My address was dedicated to Dean Wright, a former MSS President. A public sociologist, Dean Wright was truly dedicated to applied sociology and to launching students out of the classroom to test their sociological sails in the often troubled waters of reality. It is a tribute to Dean that his memorial service was attended by formerly homeless individuals he and his students had worked with over the years and also by service providers—who understood and respected the work they did “Under the Bridges of Polk County” (Wright 1999). This article has been greatly informed by lively discussions with the members of my writing group—Martha E. Thompson and Judith Wittner, and with invaluable input from Charles Hoch and Georgiann Davis. The Northeastern Illinois sociology students, who, since 1999, have enrolled and actively participated in my Sociological Practice and Social Action class, were the inspiration for the initial Presidential Address.

NOTES

Notes

¹ Hironimus-Wendt and Lovell-Troy (1999) argue that there is evidence for the sociological support of experiential education. The authors trace Dewey's philosophy of experience, or pragmatism, his belief that learning was active, and “occurs through an interaction between the learner and the environment” and “reflective-thinking activity on the part of the students.” We learn that Dewey was one of C. Wright Mills early mentors. “Threads of Dewey's progressive reforms run through most of Mills' works regarding education” (Hironimus-Wendt and Lovell-Troy 1999:365), and are evident in Mills' assertion that academics should “stand up and be counted. … For it is around them that real publics could develop” (Mills [1954] 1963:371–2).

² It is also key that the students in this course are exposed to the work of sociological practitioners and of community organizers (see Bruhn and Rebach 2007; Szakos and Szakos 2007).

³ These three students were selected from the approximately 170 students who have taken this course since 1999, and who have elected to work in over 115 organizations and agencies. Each of these students kept a learning journal, and concluded with a final evaluative reflection paper. In addition, in fall 2003, several students participated in two focus groups to more carefully analyze what they were learning in the course, and five of these students were also videotaped in their service-learning sites (Moran and Stall 2004). The “data” for these accounts was drawn from the students' journal assignment reflections, final reflection papers, and some of their course assignments. Students' names have been changed to protect their anonymity.

⁴ The citizen-scholar is invested in developing “community-based teaching and research programs that serve our students, the university, the community, and our profession” (Pestello et al. 1996:148; see also Saxton 1993).

⁵ In fact the Parkville study did include a section on women's participation in a Meals on Wheels program. In my dissertation I explained the relational value of these “visits” and how this “transfer of services” creates social bonds when “not just a meal is shared with an elderly citizen, but time and conversation.” Moreover, community solidarity is heightened as women mobilized other individuals and organizations to assist in this program (Stall 1991:90–2, 95).

⁶ In both editions of his book, Soul of a Citizen: Living with Convictions in Challenging Times (Loeb 1999, 2010), Paul Loeb entitles one of his chapters, “Widening the Circle.” In this chapter he provides convincing stories of everyday social activists who have discovered what can be gained by reaching out to others who don't share their assumptions about particular social issues and modes of organizing. Miranda is correct in her supposition that implementing IMPACT self-defense training in community organizations that provide domestic violence and rape counseling services could be an example of “widening the circle.” This is because some who work in the women's antiviolence community do not recognize the distinction between standard self-defense courses and feminist self-defense comprehensive trainings, like IMPACT. Feminist self-defense is committed to empowering women and girls, and in fact, works to counter the victim blaming that is embedded in our society.