anomic cultural sociologist
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Post by anomic cultural sociologist on Jun 8, 2014 20:25:20 GMT -5
So, after a few years of looking for work, anyone else here regret having specialized in cultural sociology?
I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain ...
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Yes, I like pina coladas
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Post by Yes, I like pina coladas on Jun 9, 2014 12:16:44 GMT -5
Nice to meet another cultural sociologist! I have to admit that I, too, regret having pursued a specialization in cultural sociology, despite my theoretical and empirical inclinations combined with advice to "follow my bliss". I'm fortunate enough to be holding a contract (hopefully, soon, tenure-track) position at a respected university, but I've had to solicit my work to non-cultural sociology journals in order to justify my relevance to myself and to my colleagues.
Maybe some of it has to do with the recent infighting over the direction of "cultural sociology", and whether "sociologists of culture" are "different" from "cultural studies scholars" and "cultural sociologists". Recent publications in the two ranked cultural sociology journals seem to harp on these differences. Certainly, amongst us junior specialists, it feels as though the field is in danger of disappearing, simply by virtue of the fact that so few jobs are opening up in the field.
My unsolicited advice is to try and reframe your work so that you appear broader in your expertise: try to publish in venues like "Theory and Society" or "Theory and Event". Culture and popular culture are going the way of the Dodo, by which I mean English departments! No offence. JK ... kinda.
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Post by Which on Jun 9, 2014 16:40:26 GMT -5
Which are "the two ranked cultural sociology journals" to which you refer?
The fact that sociology of culture is passe' is a sad state of affairs indeed. Cultural sociology was sociology itself, and now it seems extinct.
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Post by culturevulture on Jun 9, 2014 18:21:46 GMT -5
The sad fact is that the culture specialization, along with theory and qualitative methods, has become a "boutique" subfield because the only jobs are in top R1 departments. All the other departments have turned their backs on these subfields, even though it can be argued that they constitute the intellectual core of the discipline. And they are exceptionally popular with grad students to boot (culture had the largest section membership). One among many self-destructive trends in the field.
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Post by Kent on Jun 10, 2014 0:47:51 GMT -5
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Yes, I like pina coladas
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Post by Yes, I like pina coladas on Jun 10, 2014 2:41:39 GMT -5
The journals I noticed such debates in were American Journal of Cultural Sociology and Cultural Sociology (British). I recall some hardcore proposals for reinvention of the field regarding "The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology," which seemed pretty polarizing at best: ccs.research.yale.edu/about/strong-program/That Kent job looks pretty sweet ... yet totally out of my league! Worth a shot, as always.
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Post by And another one on Jun 10, 2014 2:51:13 GMT -5
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Yes, I like pina coladas
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Post by Yes, I like pina coladas on Jun 10, 2014 9:48:13 GMT -5
Hey! Thanks again! Glad anomic cultural sociologist started this thread ...
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Post by Funny on Jun 10, 2014 14:49:47 GMT -5
This thread is very amusing to me because just a few years ago, in grad school as a devoted symbolic interactionist, I was strongly urged to go with the "culture" specialization over the Social Psych/SI specialization. Culture, supposedly, was where the jobs would be....
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Yes, I like pina coladas
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Post by Yes, I like pina coladas on Jun 10, 2014 20:19:53 GMT -5
Me too!!! My supervisor even said something along the lines about his own work that "*This* is the FUTURE of cultural sociology!"
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Post by Success Victim on Jun 11, 2014 13:12:52 GMT -5
Cultural sociology as a subsection/specialty area is in large part a victim of its success in the discipline at large. We've done such a good job of convincing everyone that "culture matters" that, now, just about every subfield "does culture" - social movements, political soc, soc of religion, soc of law, health, etc., etc.
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Post by I agree on Jun 11, 2014 17:47:40 GMT -5
with Success Victim. "Culture" has permeated research in various sub-fields so it seems that doing "culture" is not enough - you should use culture in the study of X, Y, Z sub-fields
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Post by what's wrong? on Jun 12, 2014 10:05:48 GMT -5
What's wrong with working within a sub-field though, from a career perspective? That's how you expand your options! I switched from a cultural studies focus to medical sociology during graduate school after I saw a talk at a conference about male circumcision. I saw limitless possibilities to explore culture in a medical context, and this turned out to be the BEST decision of my life. I've been able to do more than just "culture in medical sociology." I can integrate cultural soc into all the health sub fields like rehabilitation, disability, public health, gerontology, and health services/policy - which all have a weak cultural focus that health scholars recognize. Before I knew it I was working in team science in a research hospital, which has been really rewarding. And I just got a tenure track offer, replacing a retiring gerontologist.
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Post by Nothing wrong on Jun 12, 2014 11:40:30 GMT -5
What's wrong with working within a sub-field though, from a career perspective? That's how you expand your options! I switched from a cultural studies focus to medical sociology during graduate school after I saw a talk at a conference about male circumcision. I saw limitless possibilities to explore culture in a medical context, and this turned out to be the BEST decision of my life. I've been able to do more than just "culture in medical sociology." I can integrate cultural soc into all the health sub fields like rehabilitation, disability, public health, gerontology, and health services/policy - which all have a weak cultural focus that health scholars recognize. Before I knew it I was working in team science in a research hospital, which has been really rewarding. And I just got a tenure track offer, replacing a retiring gerontologist. There is nothing wrong with working within a sub-field - all of us market ourselves within multiple subfields. The point is that many who are now on the market began grad school when "culture" was itself a marketable subfield. By and large, that is no longer the case. So instead of being able to apply to positions advertised as looking for either a) culture or b) health, now you are only applying for soc of health jobs. Also, if you are a cultural sociologist who specializes in the study of cultural production (art, music, literature, etc.) then you are doubly screwed at the moment.
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Post by Nothing wrong on Jun 12, 2014 11:45:46 GMT -5
Btw, I'm actually a tenured prof who specializes in culture (among other things), so this is not a "sour grapes" type of post. It's just an observation about the state of the market now vs. when many new job market hopefuls started their grad careers. I do think the market for certain specialty areas - like culture and also orgs - has declined quite a bit. However, subfields like health are booming, so that is great for you.
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