Problem-Solving Sociology
Problem-Solving Sociology
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解决问题的社会学
DOI：
10.1177/0094306118779810
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发表时间：
2018
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
M. Prasad
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Prasad
罗纳德里根说过，经济学家会问：“它在实践中可能行得通，但在理论上行得通吗？”在这一点上，社会学家似乎与经济学家没有太大的不同。在今天的社会学中，一个学者可以解决种族灭绝的问题，而某个地方的某个人会说：“是的，但这是一个什么案例？”“理论化”的冲动--从特定的情况中得出一般的含义，从一粒沙子中看到宇宙--深深地植根于我们的学科，并被认为是学术出版的要求。但是，与这种使具体普遍化的冲动并存的是一种同样强烈的冲动，即参与当今的社会问题。许多社会学家选择这一学科正是因为社会学似乎是在研究贫困和不平等问题的基础上建立起来的。在过去的几十年里，我们一再看到一些项目，包括我们专业中最杰出的成员，专注于使社会学更接近当代社会问题的研究，从Michael Burawoy的“公共社会学”到Theda Skocpol的学者战略网络。我们很难责怪学者们认为，社会科学毕竟应该对当代社会问题有所作为。但是，这种冲动与超越地方和特殊的冲动处于紧张状态。最近，一些学者提出了一种方法，可以调和这些相互冲突的冲动。这一方法首先注意到，自然科学中基础科学和应用科学之间的区别被夸大了。事实上，基础科学的许多创新都是在解决应用问题的斗争中产生的。最著名的例子是路易斯·巴斯德，他对如何防止甜菜根酒精变酸这一非常实际的问题的研究为疾病的细菌理论提供了强有力的证据（斯托克斯2011）。最近，生产更好的酸奶的尝试导致了CRISPR基因编辑技术的革命性进步（Grens 2015）。学者们认为类似的东西可能适用于社会科学（Watts 2017; Pearson et al. 2016）。例如，要真正解决种族主义或性别歧视这样的问题，不仅需要深入了解导致种族主义和种族歧视的结构，包括社会分层、劳动力市场机会和群体形成的心理，还需要深入了解能够引发变革的机制，如组织创新和社会运动，以及规则和法律的正式变革。或者考虑一下当今美国最紧迫的社会问题之一，如何使刑满释放人员重新融入社会。大规模监禁的后果包括管理数百万美国人的重新入境，他们可能没有最新的技能或培训，支持网络或生活计划。但是，一旦我们开始以解决这个问题为目的来审视这个问题，我们很快就会发现，我们正在谈论的是涂尔干的问题，即社区如何执行他们的边界，他们如何管理地位的象征性转变，以及他们如何修复漏洞（Braithwaite，1989）。问题为理论提供了一个经验的检验场，理论成为解决问题的资源。
Ronald Reagan said an economist is someone who asks, ‘‘it may work in practice, but will it work in theory?’’ In that regard sociologists do not seem much different from economists. In sociology today a scholar could solve the problem of genocide, and someone somewhere would say ‘‘yes, but what is this a case of?’’ The urge to ‘‘theorize’’—to pull out general implications from a specific situation, to see the universe in the grain of sand—is deeply rooted in our discipline and assumed as a requirement of scholarly publication. But coexisting with this urge to make the specific general is an equally strong urge to be involved with the social problems of the day. Many sociologists choose this discipline precisely because sociology seems to be anchored in studying issues of poverty and inequality. Repeatedly over the last few decades we have seen projects, including by the most eminent members of our profession, focused on bringing sociology closer to the study of contemporary social problems, from Michael Burawoy’s ‘‘Public Sociology’’ to Theda Skocpol’s Scholars Strategy Network. It’s hard to blame scholars for thinking that the science of society ought, after all, to have something to say about contemporary social issues. But this urge stands in tension with the urge to transcend the local and the particular. Recently, several scholars have suggested an approach that can reconcile these conflicting impulses. This approach begins with the observation that the distinction between basic and applied sciences within the natural sciences is overdrawn. In fact, many innovations in basic science have emerged from struggle with applied problems. The most famous example is of Louis Pasteur, whose research into the very practical question of how to prevent beetroot alcohol from souring led to research that provided strong evidence for the germ theory of disease (Stokes 2011). More recently, the attempt to produce better yogurt led to the revolutionary advance of the CRISPR geneediting technology (Grens 2015). Scholars have suggested something similar may hold for the social sciences (Watts 2017; Pearson et al. 2016). To really solve a problem like racism or sexism, for example, requires deep understanding not only of the structures that give rise to racism and sexism—including social stratification, labor market opportunities, and the psychology of group formation—but also the mechanisms that can induce change, such as organizational innovations and social movements in addition to formal changes in rules and laws. Or consider one of the most pressing social problems in America today, how to reintegrate ex-prisoners into society. The consequences of mass incarceration include managing the reentry of millions of Americans who may not have up-do-date skills or training, networks of support, or plans for their lives. But once we begin to examine the question with the intention of solving it, we quickly discover that we are speaking to Durkheimian questions of how communities enforce their boundaries, how they manage symbolic transitions of status, and how they repair breaches (Braithwaite 1989). The problem provides an empirical testing ground for the theories, and the theories become resources for the solving of the