nach oben

Society

Erschienen in:

25.08.2022 | Original Article

The Continuity of the Social Sciences During COVID-19: Sociology and Interdisciplinarity in Pandemic Times

verfasst von: Mathieu Deflem

Erschienen in: Society | Ausgabe 6/2022

Einloggen

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche, um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config

KI-gestützte Suche

Aus

Abstract

I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for sociologists and other social scientists to focus their scholarship on this apparently new event, while applying theoretical and methodological traditions that were established during pre-pandemic times. I substantiate this argument by critically reviewing published sociological research on COVID-19, especially as it developed early on during the pandemic, in the light of the historical development and original ambitions of sociology and other social sciences. Evaluating these contributions, I make a case for the value of a collaborative notion of interdisciplinarity to analyze the multi-dimensional dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic from the viewpoint of various disciplines. On the basis of sociological work on celebrity culture during the pandemic, I argue that this task can be accomplished without resorting to all too readily made judgments concerning the unprecedented nature of the pandemic. Studying the multiple dimensions of the pandemic, each of the social sciences can usefully contribute to interdisciplinary research by relying on the proven perspectives of their respective disciplinary orientations and specialty areas.

Vorheriger Artikel Once Accessing the Internet, Less Trusting of Local Officials?

Nächster Artikel Brexit, the Rise of China, and the Future of the Liberal International Order and Great Power Competition

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Abraham, L.A., Brown, T.C., and S.A. Thomas. (2020). How COVID-19’s disruption of the U.S. correctional system provides an opportunity for decarceration. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 780-792. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09537-1CrossRef

Abbott, A. (2001). Chaos of disciplines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Adams, Jimi, Light, Ryan and Nicholas Theis. (2020). Mobilizing COVID-19 science. Contexts, 19(4), 36-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504220977933CrossRef

Baker, J.O., Martí, G., Braunstein, R., Whitehead, A.L., and G. Yukich. (2020). Religion in the age of social distancing: How COVID-19 presents new directions for research. Sociology of Religion, 81(4), 357-370. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sraa039CrossRef

Berger, P.L. and T. Luckmann. (1967). The social construction of reality. New York: Anchor.

Boman, J.H. and O. Gallupe. (2020). Has COVID-19 changed crime? Crime rates in the United States during the pandemic. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 537-545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09551-3CrossRef

Buyalskaya, A., Gallo, M., and C.F. Camerer. (2021). The golden age of social science. PNAS, 118(5), e2002923118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2002923118CrossRef

Chen, A.L.Q. (2020). A socio-spatial research agenda on the COVID-19 pandemic. Acta Sociologica, 63(4), 453-456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699320961811CrossRef

Cohen, E.L. (2020). Stars—they’re sick like us! The effects of a celebrity exemplar on COVID-19-related risk cognitions, emotions, and preventative behavioral intentions. Science Communication, 42(5), 724-741. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020960465CrossRef

Collins, R. (1994). Four sociological traditions. New York: Oxford University Press.

Collins, R. (2020). Social distancing as a critical test of the micro-sociology of solidarity. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 8(3), 477-497. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00120-zCrossRef

Connell, R. (2020). COVID-19/sociology. Journal of Sociology, 56(4), 745-751. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320943262CrossRef

Deflem, M. (2013). The structural transformation of sociology. Society, 50(2), 156-166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-013-9634-4CrossRef

Deflem, M. (2017). Lady Gaga and the sociology of fame: The rise of a pop star in an age of celebrity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRef

Deflem, M. (2022a). Celebrity activism on racial justice during COVID-19: The death of George Floyd, the rise of Naomi Osaka, and the celebritization of race in pandemic times. International Review of Sociology, 32(1), 63-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2022.2052457CrossRef

Deflem, M. (2022b). The criminal justice activism of Naomi Osaka: A case study in the criminology of celebrity culture. American Journal of Criminal Justice, published online April 21, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-022-09681-w

Denice, P., Choi, K.H., Haan, M., and A. Zajacova. (2020). Visualizing the geographic and demographic distribution of COVID-19. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 6, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120948715CrossRef

Dingwall, R., Hoffman, L.M. and K. Staniland. (2013). Introduction: Why a sociology of pandemics? Sociology of Health & Illness, 35(2), 167-173. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12019CrossRef

Dobransky, K. and E. Hargittai. (2020). People with disabilities during COVID-19. Contexts, 19(4), 46-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504220977935CrossRef

Durkheim, E. ([1893] 1984). The division of labor in society. New York: The Free Press.

Elbaum, A. (2020). Black lives in a pandemic: Implications of systemic injustice for end-of-life care. Hastings Center Report, 50(3), 58-60. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.1135CrossRef

Feierstein, D. (2023). Social and political representations of the COVID-19 crisis. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Ferreira, C.M. and S. Serpa (Editors) (2022). COVID-19 and social sciences. Basil, Switzerland: MDPI. https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-0365-0155-0CrossRef

Ferris, K.O. (2007). The sociology of celebrity. Sociology Compass, 1(1), 371–384. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00019.xCrossRef

Fitzpatrick, K.M., Harris, C., and G. Drawve. (2020). How bad is it? Suicidality in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 50(6), 1241-1249. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12655CrossRef

Furedi, F. (2020). Social distancing, safe spaces and the demand for quarantine. Society, 57, 392-397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-020-00500-8CrossRef

Gerbaudo, P. (2020). The pandemic crowd: Protest in the time of COVID-19. Journal of International Affairs, 73(2), 61-75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26939966. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

Gerwin, L.E. (2020). The challenge of providing the public with actionable information during a pandemic. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 40(3), 630-654. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720x.2012.00695.xCrossRef

Gillis, A. and L.M. Krull. (2020). COVID-19 remote learning transition in Spring 2020: Class structures, student perceptions, and inequality in college courses. Teaching Sociology, 48(4), 283-299. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X20954263CrossRef

Go, J. (2020). Race, empire, and epistemic exclusion: Or the structures of sociological thought. Sociological Theory, 38(2), 79-100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275120926213CrossRef

Gover, A.R., Harper, S.B., and L. Langton. (2020). Anti-Asian hate crime during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring the reproduction of inequality. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 647-667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09545-1CrossRef

Graff, H.J. (2015). Undisciplining knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the twentieth century. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Grether, S.T., Macdonald, H., and K. Higgins. (2020). Students’ perceptions and experiences of learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Virginia Social Science Journal, 54, 84-93. http://virginiasocialscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/54-Grether.pdf. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

Habermas, J. ([1981] 1984). The theory of communicative action, Volume 1: Reason and the rationalization of society. Boston: Beacon Press.

Hawk, H.B. and R. Garner (2021). Erving Goffman and “the new normal”: Havoc and containment in the pandemic era. The American Sociologist, 52(3), 548-578.CrossRef

Holmwood, J. (2010). Sociology’s misfortune: Disciplines, interdisciplinarity and the impact of audit culture. The British Journal of Sociology, 61(4), 639-658. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2010.01332.xCrossRef

Horkheimer, M. and T.W. Adorno. ([1944] 1972). Dialectic of enlightenment. New York: Herder and Herder.

Horowitz, I.L. (1993). The decomposition of sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Horton, R. (2021). The COVID-19 Catastrophe: What’s Gone Wrong and How To Stop It Happening Again. Second Edition, Expanded and Updated. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Ilsøe, A. and T.P. Larsen. (2020). The coronavirus crisis reveals blind spots in Nordic labour market data: A sociological perspective. Acta Sociologica, 63(4), 447-449. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699320961817CrossRef

International Journal of Sociology. (2022). Themed issue: What does the Covid-19 crisis reveal about interdisciplinarity in social sciences? International Journal of Sociology, 32(1), 1-106.

Jacobs, J.A., and S. Frickel. (2009). Interdisciplinarity: A critical assessment. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 43-65. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-115954CrossRef

Jennings, W.G. and N.M. Perez. (2020). The immediate impact of COVID-19 on law enforcement in the United States. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 690-701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09536-2CrossRef

Jones, D.J. (2020). The potential impacts of pandemic policing on police legitimacy: Planning past the COVID-19 crisis. Policing: A Journal of Policy & Practice, 14(3), 579-586. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paaa026CrossRef

Kavanagh, M.M. and R. Singh. (2020). Democracy, capacity, and coercion in pandemic response: COVID-19 in comparative political perspective. Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law, 45(6), 997-1012. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-8641530CrossRef

Landivar, L.C., Ruppanner, L., Scarborough, W.J., and C. Collins. (2020). Early signs indicate that COVID-19 is exacerbating gender inequality in the labor force. Socius, 6, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120947997CrossRef

Larabee, A. (2020). Celebrity, pandemic, and domesticity. Journal of Popular Culture, 53(2), 257–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12906CrossRef

Leppert, A. (2020). We’re all television stars in a pandemic. Celebrity Studies, 11(4), 496–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2020.1834224CrossRef

Li, K. and S. Shakib. (2021). How privilege shaped the COVID-19 pandemic. Contexts, January 5, 2021. https://contexts.org/articles/how-privilege-shaped-the-covid-19-pandemic/. Accessed 20 Aug 2022.

Luengo, M. and D. García-Marín. (2020). The performance of truth: Politicians, fact-checking journalism, and the struggle to tackle COVID-19 misinformation. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 8(3), 405-427. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00115-wCrossRef

Lupton, D. and K. Willis (Editors) (2021). The COVID-19 crisis: Social perspectives. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Lyle, K. (2017). Shaping the future of sociology: The challenge of interdisciplinarity beyond the social sciences. Sociology, 51(6), 1169-1185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038516653728CrossRef

Lyon, D. (2022). Pandemic surveillance. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Matthewman, S. and K. Huppatz. (2020). A sociology of COVID-19. Journal of Sociology, 56(4), 675-683. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320939416CrossRef

Merton, R.K. (1968). Social theory and social structure. Enlarged edition. New York: The Free Press.

Merton, R.K. (1972). Insiders and outsiders: A chapter in the sociology of knowledge. American Journal of Sociology, 77, 9-47. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2776569. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

Mills, C.W. (1956). The power elite. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mirchandani, R. (2005). Postmodernism and sociology: From the epistemological to the empirical. Sociological Theory, 23(1), 86-115. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2751.2005.00244.xCrossRef

Mitraa, S., Palmer, M., and V. Vuong. (2020). Development and interdisciplinarity: A citation analysis. World Development, 135, November 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105076

Mohler, G., Bertozzi, A.L., Carter, J., Short, M.B., Sledge, D., Tita, G.E., Uchida, C.D., and J.P. Brantingham. (2020). Impact of social distancing during COVID-19 pandemic on crime in Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 68, 101692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2020.101692CrossRef

Mol, A. and A. Hardon. (2020). What COVID-19 may teach us about interdisciplinarity. BMJ Global Health, 5(12), e004375. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004375CrossRef

Monaghan, L.F. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19), pandemic psychology and the fractured society: A sociological case for critique, foresight and action. Sociology of Health & Illness, 42(8), 1982-1995. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13202CrossRef

Morris, A. (2022). Alternative view of modernity: The subaltern speaks. American Sociological Review, 87(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224211065719CrossRef

Muschert, G.W. , Budd, K.M., Lane, D.C., and J.A. Smith. (Editors) (2020). Social problems in the age of COVID-19. Volume 1: US perspectives; Volume 2: Global perspectives. Two volumes. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Mututwa, W. T. and T. Matsilele. (2020). COVID-19 infections on international celebrities: Self presentation and tweeting down pandemic awareness. JCOM: Journal of Science Communication, 19(05), A09, https://doi.org/10.22323/2.19050209CrossRef

Myrick, J. G., & Willoughby, J. F. (2021). The ‘celebrity canary in the coal mine for the coronavirus’: An examination of a theoretical model of celebrity illness disclosure effects. Social Science & Medicine, 279, 113963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113963CrossRef

Nissani, M. (1997). Ten cheers for interdisciplinarity: The case for interdisciplinary knowledge and research. The Social Science Journal, 34(2), 201-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0362-3319(97)90051-3CrossRef

O’Reilly, K. (2009) For interdisciplinarity and a disciplined, professional sociology. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 22(2), 219-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610903075761CrossRef

Parsons, T. ([1937] 1949). The structure of social action: A study in social theory with special reference to a group of recent European writers. Second edition. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.

Pfaller, L. (2020). Theorizing the virus: Abjection and the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy, 40(9/10), 821-829. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2020-0243CrossRef

Pfister, S.M. (2021). The social definition of the corona pandemic. The European Sociologist 45(1), published online June 2, 2020, https://www.europeansociologist.org/issue-45-pandemic-impossibilities-vol-1/theorising-social-definition-corona-pandemic. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

Pinckney, J. and M. Rivers. (2020). Sickness or silence: Social movement adaptation to COVID-19. Journal of International Affairs, 73(2), 23-41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26939964

Pulido, C.M., Villarejo-Carballido, B., Redondo-Sama, G., and A. Gómez. (2020). COVID-19 infodemic: More retweets for science-based information on coronavirus than for false information. International Sociology, 35(4), 377-392. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580920914755CrossRef

Quah, S.R. (2020). Wrestling with role strain in a pandemic: Family, ‘stay-at-home’ directive, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 51, 236-253. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.51.3-4.002CrossRef

Rowe, D. (2020). Subjecting pandemic sport to a sociological procedure. Journal of Sociology, 56(4), 704-713. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320941284CrossRef

Scott, J. (2005). Sociology and its others: Reflections on disciplinary specialisation and fragmentation. Sociological Research Online, 10(1), http://www.socresonline.org.uk/10/1/scott.html. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

Silvast, A. and C. Foulds. (2022). Sociology of interdisciplinarity: The dynamics of energy research. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88455-0

Steinmetz, G. (2017). Field theory and interdisciplinarity: History and sociology in Germany and France during the twentieth century. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 59(2), 477–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417517000111CrossRef

Stickle, B. and M. Felson. (2020). Crime rates in a pandemic: The largest criminological experiment in history. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), 525-536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09546-0CrossRef

Swanson, R. and A.B. Smith. (2020). COVID-19 and the cutting of college athletic teams. Sport in Society, 23(11), 1724-1735. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2020.1804106CrossRef

Trout, L.J. and A. Kleinman. (2020). Covid-19 requires a social medicine response. Frontiers in Sociology, published online October 26, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.579991

Van Bavel, J.J., Baicker, K., Boggio, P.S., et al. (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 460-471. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-zCrossRef

van Krieken, R. (2019). Celebrity society: The struggle for attention. Second Edition. London: Routledge.

van Krieken, R. (2020). Covid-19 and the civilizing process. Journal of Sociology, 56(4), 714-725. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320980854CrossRef

Vaterlaus, J.M., Spruance, L.A., & Patten, E.V. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing in the United States: A mixed-methods study on lived experiences and well-being. The Social Science Journal, (12 January 2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2020.1852856

Walby, Sylvia. (2021). The COVID pandemic and social theory: Social democracy and public health in the crisis. European Journal of Social Theory, 24(1), 22-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431020970127CrossRef

Ward, P.R. (2020). A sociology of the COVID-19 pandemic: A commentary and research agenda for sociologists. Journal of Sociology, 56(4), 726-735. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320939682CrossRef

Weber, M. ([1922] 1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology, edited by G. Roth and C. Wittich. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Zevallos, Z. (2020). Using sociology to think critically about Coronavirus COVID-19 studies. Other Sociologist, July 21, 2020. https://othersociologist.com/2020/07/21/using-sociology-to-think-critically-about-coronavirus-covid-19-studies/. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

Titel: The Continuity of the Social Sciences During COVID-19: Sociology and Interdisciplinarity in Pandemic Times
verfasst von: Mathieu Deflem
Publikationsdatum: 25.08.2022
Verlag: Springer US
Erschienen in: Society / Ausgabe 6/2022
Print ISSN: 0147-2011
Elektronische ISSN: 1936-4725
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-022-00763-3

Springer Professional

Abstract

Bitte loggen Sie sich ein, um Zugang zu Ihrer Lizenz zu erhalten.

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Weitere Artikel der Ausgabe 6/2022

Publisher Correction to: The Plasticity of Our Fears: Affective Politics in the European Migration Crisis

Paul Collier, The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties

Gary Gerstle, The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era

A Narrowing of the British Conservative Mind?

Randall Collins, Explosive Conflict: Time-Dynamics of Violence

Party Politics vs. Grievance Politics: Competing Modes of Representative Democracy