The Handbook of Humanist Sociology

Call for Chapters

The Handbook of Humanist Sociology (to be published by Palgrave MacMillan)

Edited by: David G. Embrick, University of Connecticut and Daina Cheyenne Harvey, College of the Holy Cross

The hallmarks of a humanist sociology, one that is not value-neutral, one that is activist-oriented, one that is grounded in critical sociology, one that makes room for minority voices/positions, have all, in some way or another, been taken up by mainstream sociology since Goodwin and others such as Lee (1973) began to carve out a paradigm for humanist sociology. Most humanists would welcome the direction recently taken by of our fellow sociologists, but would also question if not its sincerity, perhaps the degree to which these hallmarks are pursued. Much of public sociology, for example, is rarely done as humanists would hope, with the intent of engaging with activists or other non-academics. And while Aldon Morris’ The Scholar Denied has received much attention in mainstream sociology, the positioning of historically marginalized scholars as the founders of the discipline is still controversial. Simply put, a humanist approach to social thinking and action is still paramount.

 The Handbook of Humanist Sociology will reaffirm the need for a humanist approach to sociology. It will position sociology as advocating and necessitating for research and teaching in the service of humanity, reaffirming humanist sociology as an extension of enduring tendencies that speak specific to people’s struggles and the need to both understand these struggles as well as attend to the improvement of people’s lives. The latter part of this is important as it places humanist sociology as advocating for sociologists to engage, in line with scholars such as Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, and Peter Berger, but also those rooted in Eastern, European, and South American classical traditions (e.g., see Karl Marx, but also Guerreiro Ramos and Manabendra Nath Roy), in analysis with the intent of improving the human condition. With this volume we hope to highlight and synthesize the many voices of humanists with respect to underscoring the realities that regardless of the slight variations of where and how one might see humanist sociology’s place in the larger academic discipline of sociology, we have in common the reflexive engagement in the commitment to making the world a better place.

With contributions in theory, epistemologies, methods, pedagogy, pragmatism, and everyday life, the Handbook of Humanist Sociology will offer the reader a comprehensive understanding of humanist sociology. Readers will hopefully be inspired to not only see society in a different way, but answer the call for social reform that is inherent to the writings of humanists. The Handbook of Humanist Sociology comes at an important time. Recent attacks on education, academia, social justice, science, and activism render the need to revisit a humanist orientation to sociology. The core values and approaches of humanists can help work to “restore the dignity of social action in sociology” (Stoecker 1996).

Chapters should be approximately 6,000 words. For questions regarding appropriate topics or for submissions, please contact Daina Cheyenne Harvey at dharvey@holycross.edu. Submissions are due 9/7/20.