Post-colonialism/East-West

[vigilante]

Hi,

I am very interested in studying Post-colonialism and the battle of the east-west in sociology. Can anyone give some tips on this arena? Thanks

[jacib]

Post-Colonialism isn't really as dominant in sociology as it is in, say, Anthropology, in large part because research is so U.S. focused. I'm doing research on Turkey, which most people would call non-Western and it hasn't really been an issue either way. There's a push in sociology of religion to "provincialize America" just as there is a push "provincialize Europe" in post-colonial discourse, but generally those who are interested in things like that within sociology still work within an established "sociology of ___". Like Fred Wherry has that book with research on markets in Thailand, Cihan Tuğal has that book on political mobilization in Turkey, etc. but they're doing economic sociology, political sociology, etc., not "post-colonial" sociology as such.

Edited September 8, 2012 by jacib

[jacib]

As for the "battle" between east-west, if you're talking about like Huntington-type ideas, I can't think of any sociology departments I could recommend for that.

If you mean like immigration issues (East Asians in the US, South Asians in the UK, Arabs in France, or Turks in Germany), there are many places that you could study that. If you're interested in a slightly wider focus or a focus on non-Western countries, you could look at programs that do "sociology of globalization". In my experience, sociologists are generally more comfortable speaking in terms of globalization than post-colonialism or a battle between east and west.

Edited September 8, 2012 by jacib

[vigilante]

Thanks for the reply jacib.

I have wide-ranging interests and would like to focus on sociology, but would like to draw in on ideas from anthropology.

Can you elaborate more on the sociology of globalization.

My interests are: immigration/migration/diaspora/culture, identity (where would I best study this), through the context of sport. Thanks!

[jacib]

So globalization can be more of a buzz word than a concrete subdiscipline. Economic concerns are often at the heart of the more formal globalization research (look at the "World Systems/Globalization" comps reading list for Arizona's department for example: it's mostly very Immanuel Wallerstein/World Systems based stuff). If you want to do work on identity, look up things on transnationalism--that probably the side of Globalization that you're a better fit for. If you can sell yourself to a more World Systems audience, there are a couple of schools that still have healthy World Systems programs. Since there are so many competing little things here, you may find yourself really tailoring your sales pitch to every school, which is something that I also had to do because I am interested in a part of sociology that sometimes falls through the cracks. In some places, you find yourself selling yourself as a purely cultural sociologist. In other places, your statement will emphasize immigration. In some places, ethnicity and identity. In others, globalization and transnationalism. And then, maybe there are a few other ideosyncratic schools where you'll emphasize you're interested in other things (If you apply to UCLA, you might emphasize you're interested in nationalism rather than any transnationalism). A lot of schools you'll probably emphasize two of the above for two different professors.

I can tell you right now that sociology of sport is unfairly marginalized. I don't think anyone doing sociology of sport teaches at a top 25 school, but maybe there are a few exceptions. As for identity, it's quite fashionable still, but Rogers Brubaker's article "Beyond 'Identity'" (with the historian Fredrick Cooper) is worth reading. Studying "identity" or "ethnicity" in a sociology department is very annoyingly divided into people who study ethnicity and nationalism (people like Brubaker), and people who study ethnicity and race (who mainly study immigrant minorities in the U.S.). The former think the latter are quite provincial in their outlook, and the latter barely acknowldge the former exists.

Maybe one place to start, beyond talking to your undergraduate professors for advice, is looking at the different ASA sections: see who are officiers in at least 1) Global and Transnational (notice the World Systems-y people) 2) International Migration (this is maybe a good place to sell yourself, depending) 3) Racial and Ethnic Minorities (notice that almost everyone just studies the U.S., with a few other high immigrantion societies like France, Brazil, and New Zealand occasionally being mentioned. Nothing on indigenous ethnic minorities in places like China or Malawi or Burma.). Then there's also 4) cultural sociology, but the section might be too big and diffuse to be of much use to you, but probably worth a look (look at what wins awards and try to imagine what couldn't be nominated) and 5) Political Economy of the World System which is probably not for you, and generally a shrinking field. Go to each sections' website, see who has won awards recently, who are officers; see where those people teach, and if they're young, where they got degrees. The Global and Transnational section even puts who was on the awards committees for some years, so you know those are well-respected scholars in the subfield. Get a sense of what kind of work is valued, and where.

[RefurbedScientist]

Maybe one place to start, beyond talking to your undergraduate professors for advice, is looking at the different ASA sections: see who are officiers in at least 1) Global and Transnational (notice the World Systems-y people) 2) International Migration (this is maybe a good place to sell yourself, depending) 3) Racial and Ethnic Minorities (notice that almost everyone just studies the U.S., with a few other high immigrantion societies like France, Brazil, and New Zealand occasionally being mentioned. Nothing on indigenous ethnic minorities in places like China or Malawi or Burma.). Then there's also 4) cultural sociology, but the section might be too big and diffuse to be of much use to you, but probably worth a look (look at what wins awards and try to imagine what couldn't be nominated) and 5) Political Economy of the World System which is probably not for you, and generally a shrinking field. Go to each sections' website, see who has won awards recently, who are officers; see where those people teach, and if they're young, where they got degrees. The Global and Transnational section even puts who was on the awards committees for some years, so you know those are well-respected scholars in the subfield. Get a sense of what kind of work is valued, and where.

Great advice, Jacib. ASA sections are not something I paid attention to when I was applying. Looking at award winners over the past 5-10 years is an especially good way to get a sense for department strengths. It might go without saying, but I suppose people should be wary that these are by no means exhaustive representations of whose in a sub-field, but definitely a good starting point.