American Sociological Association

American Sociological Association

Formation	January 1, 1905 (1905-01-01)
Headquarters	1717 K Street NW, Suite 900, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Membership	9,893 (in 2023)
2023 President	Joya Misra
Publication	Footnotes
Website	www.asanet.org

The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fifty people, the first president of the association would be Lester Frank Ward. Today, most of its members work in academia, while around 20 percent of them work in government, business, or non-profit organizations.

ASA publishes ten academic journals and magazines, along with four section journals, including the American Sociological Review and Contexts.

The ASA had 9,893 members in 2023, as an association of sociologists even larger than the International Sociological Association. It is composed of researchers, students, college/university faculty, high school faculty, and various practitioners The "American Sociological Association Annual Meeting" is an annual academic conference held by the association consisting of over 4,000 participants.

History

Founding

In the summer of 1905, George Washington University professor C. W. A. Veditz began a discussion among sociologists throughout the United States, writing to several dozen people to gauge the need for or interest in forming an sociological organization. Sociologists debated whether there was a need for a separate organization from the American Economic Association, American Political Science Association and the American Historical Association, which most sociologists at the time were members of. Ultimately, a consensus was reached that the time had come for a society of sociologists in the U.S.

In early December, Veditz and eight others wrote to about 300 people inviting them to a special session during the American Economic Association (AEA) and American Political Science Association meetings later that month to discuss the potential formation of a sociological society.

On December 27, approximately 50 people, including one woman, gathered in McCoy Hall at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and, by its end, the group would motion to form a new society of sociologists. Though there would be debate as to integrating this new society with an existing organization, such as the AEA, the group would ultimately decide that the new society ought to be an independent entity.

The committee

At the end of the day of the initial meeting, those gathered at the meeting formed a five-person committee to develop a plan for the new society and how it should be governed. The committee members would re-convene the next afternoon to review the proposed structure of the society. Council members would include Edward A. Ross, W.F. Wilcox, Albion Small, Samuel Lindsay, D. C. Wells, and William Davenport.

The following men would be elected officers of the new society:

• Lester Frank Ward, president
• William Graham Sumner, first vice president
• Franklin Giddings, second vice president
• C.W.A. Veditz (the professor), secretary and treasurer

When the committee left Baltimore, the birth of the American Sociological Society was complete, a Constitution had been adopted, officers were elected, and plans were made for the second annual meeting of the new society.

1905–1980

In 1981, in celebration the association's 75th anniversary, Lawrence J. Rhoades prepared a 90-page publication entitled A History of the American Sociological Association, 1905-1980, commonly referred to as the "1981 Rhoades History." The publication provides a brief overview of the founding and early years of the association, as well as highlights of key activities and events in the decades since.

In 1953, during the annual meeting in Berkeley, California, each of the (living) past presidents of the society would compose a voice recording to address the coming generation of sociologists.

1981–Present

ASA membership peaked at almost 15,000 in 2007 before declining to its current level below 10,000. The trend led to the formation of a Task Force on Membership in 2016, with recommendations released in 2019, addressing issues of community, cost, and value.

100-Year Anniversary

In 2005, in celebration of the association's 100th anniversary, ASA published a 201-page book entitled A History of the American Sociological Association, 1981-2004. The publication picks up where the 1981 Rhoades history concludes, continuing the story and capturing the association's history from 1981 through 2004. It was the culmination of over two years of detailed research by Katherine J. Rosich.

The "ASA Wikipedia" Initiative

In the fall of 2011, the ASA launched its "Sociology in Wikipedia" initiative. Erik Olin Wright, President of the ASA, called for improvement in sociological entries in Wikipedia. He asked that professors and students to get more involved by having Wikipedia-writing assignments in class. The basic goal set forth by the initiative would be to make it easier for sociologists to contribute to Wikipedia, and for sociologists to become better involved in the writing and editing processes to ensure that social science articles are up-to-date, complete, accurate, and written appropriately.

In conjunction with the Wikimedia Foundation and a research group at Carnegie Mellon University, the ASA developed its Wikipedia Portal in an attempt to achieve the initiative's goal through providing tutorials on how to contribute; video discussions of norms and procedures; and lists of articles and subject areas that need improvement. The Portal would also provide instructions for professors on how to use Wikipedia writing assignments for academic courses.

Code of Ethics

The ASA is governed by a code of ethics, which has been revised since 1970, with the first ASA code of ethics being written in 1970. ASA members are bound by the code of ethics. The association also has codes for meeting behavior, disclosure, award revocation, and removal from leadership positions.

Publications

ASA Style Guide

Main article: ASA style

ASA style is a widely accepted format for writing university research papers that specifies the arrangement and punctuation of footnotes and bibliographies. Standards for ASA style are specified in the ASA Style Guide, which is designed to aid authors in preparing manuscripts for ASA journals and publications.

ASA Academic Journals and Magazines

The association publishes the following academic journals and magazines:

• American Sociological Review
• The American Sociologist (1965—1982)
• City and Community
• Contemporary Sociology
• Contexts
• Journal of Health and Social Behavior
• Journal of World-Systems Research
• Social Psychology Quarterly
• Society and Mental Health
• Sociological Methodology
• Sociological Theory
• Sociology of Education
• Socius
• Teaching Sociology
• Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

The ASA also publishes Footnotes, a newsletter aimed at the association's members. Footnotes was established in 1979 and is published five times per year.

Presidents

The following persons have been presidents of the American Sociological Association:

1. Lester F. Ward 1906–1907
2. William G. Sumner 1908–1909
3. Franklin H. Giddings 1910–1911
4. Albion Woodbury Small 1912–1913
5. Edward A. Ross 1914–1915
6. George E. Vincent 1916
7. George E. Howard 1917
8. Charles Cooley 1918
9. Frank W. Blackmar 1919
10. James Q. Dealey 1920
11. Edward C. Hayes 1921
12. James P. Lichtenberger 1922
13. Ulysses G. Weatherly 1923
14. Charles A. Ellwood 1924
15. Robert E. Park 1925
16. John L. Gillin 1926
17. W. I. Thomas 1927
18. John M. Gillette 1928
19. William F. Ogburn 1929
20. Howard W. Odum 1930
21. Emory S. Bogardus 1931
22. Luther L. Bernard 1932
23. Edward B. Reuter 1933
24. Ernest W. Burgess 1934
25. F. Stuart Chapin 1935
26. Henry P. Fairchild 1936
27. Ellsworth Faris 1937
28. Frank H. Hankins 1938
29. Edwin Sutherland 1939
30. Robert M. MacIver 1940
31. Stuart A. Queen 1941
32. Dwight Sanderson 1942
33. George A. Lundberg 1943
34. Rupert B. Vance 1944
35. Kimball Young 1945
36. Carl C. Taylor 1946
37. Louis Wirth 1947
38. E. Franklin Frazier 1948
39. Talcott Parsons 1949
40. Leonard S. Cottrell Jr. 1950
41. Robert C. Angell 1951
42. Dorothy Swaine Thomas 1952
43. Samuel A. Stouffer 1953
44. Florian Znaniecki 1954
45. Donald Young 1955
46. Herbert Blumer 1956
47. Robert K. Merton 1957
48. Robin M. Williams Jr. 1958
49. Kingsley Davis 1959
50. Howard P. Becker 1960 (died in office)
51. Robert E. L. Faris 1961
52. Paul Lazarsfeld 1962
53. Everett C. Hughes 1963
54. George C. Homans 1964
55. Pitirim A. Sorokin 1965
56. Wilbert E. Moore 1966
57. Charles P. Loomis 1967
58. Philip M. Hauser 1968
59. Arnold Marshall Rose 1969 (died in office)
60. Ralph Turner 1969
61. Reinhard Bendix 1970
62. William H. Sewell 1971
63. William J. Goode 1972
64. Mirra Komarovsky 1973
65. Peter M. Blau 1974
66. Lewis A. Coser 1975
67. Alfred McClung Lee 1976
68. John Milton Yinger 1977
69. Amos H. Hawley 1978
70. Hubert M. Blalock Jr. 1979
71. Peter H. Rossi 1980
72. William Foote Whyte 1981
73. Erving Goffman 1982
74. Alice S. Rossi 1983
75. James F. Short Jr. 1984
76. Kai T. Erikson 1985
77. Matilda White Riley 1986
78. Melvin L. Kohn 1987
79. Herbert J. Gans 1988
80. Joan Huber 1989
81. William Julius Wilson 1990
82. Stanley Lieberson 1991
83. James S. Coleman 1992
84. Seymour Martin Lipset 1993
85. William A. Gamson 1994
86. Amitai Etzioni 1995
87. Maureen T. Hallinan 1996
88. Neil Smelser 1997
89. Jill Quadagno 1998
90. Alejandro Portes 1999
91. Joe R. Feagin 2000
92. Douglas S. Massey 2001
93. Barbara F. Reskin 2002
94. William T. Bielby 2003
95. Michael Burawoy 2004
96. Troy Duster 2005
97. Cynthia Fuchs Epstein 2006
98. Frances Fox Piven 2007
99. Arne L. Kalleberg 2008
100. Patricia Hill Collins 2009
101. Evelyn Nakano Glenn 2010
102. Randall Collins 2011
103. Erik Olin Wright 2012
104. Cecilia L. Ridgeway 2013
105. Annette Lareau 2014
106. Paula England 2015
107. Ruth Milkman 2016
108. Michèle Lamont 2017
109. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva 2018
110. Mary Romero 2019
111. Christine Williams 2020
112. Aldon Morris 2021
113. Cecilia Menjívar 2022
114. Prudence Carter 2023
115. Joya Misra 2024

Meetings

The Annual Meeting of the ASA is held each August to provide opportunity for sociologists to share research, develop professional networks, give awards, and hold committee meetings. The 2023 meeting had 4,802 attendees and featured 3000 research papers.

Awards

Every year, in August, the ASA presents awards to individuals and groups deserving of recognition. The awards presented are:

• Distinguished Scholarly Book Major ASA Award
• Dissertation Major ASA Award
• Excellence in the Reporting of Social Issues Major ASA Award
• Jessie Bernard Major ASA Award
• Cox-Johnson-Frazier Major ASA Award
• Award for the Public Understanding of Sociology Major ASA Award
• Distinguished Career Major ASA Award for the Practice of Sociology
• Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Major ASA Award
• W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award

Additionally, the Sections of the ASA administer separate multiple awards, which are presented each August during the annual meeting.

Controversies

Jailing of Rik Scarce

In 1993, then-doctoral student Rik Scarce was jailed for more than five months as a result of following the ASA's code of ethics. Scarce's Ph.D. research was on the radical environmental movement. Based on an FBI investigation of an Animal Liberation Front break-in, federal prosecutors argued in court that Scarce may have engaged in conversations with individuals believed to be involved with the incident. Prosecutors demanded that Scarce testify to a federal grand jury about those conversations, but Scarce refused to answer three dozen questions, citing the ASA Code of Ethics and the First Amendment as his reasoning for remaining unresponsive. Scarce's refusal to answer resulted in a contempt of court citation and 159 days spent in jail. He was never suspected of wrongdoing and—in keeping with contempt of court practice—he was never read his Miranda rights, arrested, or tried.

Frances Fox Piven and Glenn Beck

In early 2010, ASA publicly expressed outrage over a controversy involving Frances Fox Piven and Glenn Beck, asking Fox News to stop Beck's comments. An article written by Piven concerning mobilization of unemployed individuals had spurred the commentary by Beck. ASA suggests in their public statements that the line should be drawn at name calling and that political commentators should instead rely on gathering evidence related to the topics and then drawing the proper conclusions.

The Belfast Project

In January 2012, a United States district court ordered Boston College to turn over material from the "Belfast Project", an oral history project pertaining to the violence in Northern Ireland. Boston College filed an appeal in February 2012, challenging the district court's decision. ASA became involved in the case to help protect human participants from the subpoena of confidential project research data. The statement by the ASA council cited the potential damage this ruling would have on social science research by stifling the ability to study controversial topics. ASA is looking for an affirmation by the court for confidentiality in research.

Sociologists for Palestine resolution

From 2023 to 2024, in response to the war in Gaza sociologists organized to request that the American Sociological Association establish a stance calling for a ceasefire and pursuing divestment from arms. In December 2023, a letter signed by 125 sociologists including six former ASA presidents, asked for a statement in support of ceasefire. In February 2024, the association released a statement focusing on "deep concern and dismay regarding the loss of civilian lives in the context of continued violence in Gaza and Israel as well as other contexts of conflict and suffering unfolding across the globe.” In March 2024, ASA rejected a resolution forwarded by a group known as Sociologists for Palestine which called for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza". After this initial resolution was rejected, enough signatures were collected to support a ballot initiative calling for a ceasefire and divestment from military technologies, however the ASA council edited the request for divestment from the resolution claiming that investment represented an "operational issue" which members could not vote on. The Sociologists for Palestine group responded to this by declaring that the council's removal of the divestment request from the resolution was "fundamentally undemocratic". In May 2024, 59% of voting ASA members approved the Resolution for Justice in Palestine and it was adopted. Beyond calling for "an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza", the adopted resolution specifies that the association "supports members’ academic freedom, including but not limited to defending scholars’ right to speak out against Zionist occupation."

Critique

Within the Environmental sociology section of the ASA, in 2016 an ad hoc Committee on Racial Equity investigated racial and ethnic diversity within the section in response to critique that the section was overwhelmingly white. Their assessment of the professional climate for scholars of colour concluded that the section was a 'white space' characterized by the overwhelming presence of whites and dominated by white leadership. They concluded that this situation acts as a barrier to inclusion of people of colour in the field, and that the field of environmental justice was likewise marginalised.

See also

• List of sociological associations

External links

• Media related to American Sociological Association at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• North Central Sociological Association website