What is sociology and when does it become a thing? How is it related to racism? And what’s the problem with most studies in sociology today? Join host Dean Brian Edwards and Mary Pattillo, Howard Washington Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Northwestern University, as they discuss these questions and more in this episode of Anti-Racism and the Disciplines.

Timestamps:

• [00:53 - 02:36] What is sociology?

• [02:36 - 04:52] When does sociology emerge? How is it related to industrialization and other social changes?

• [04:52 - 09:44] What is the relationship between W. E. B. DuBois and sociology?

• [09:44 - 13:11] What is the connection between sociology, race, and racism?

• [13:11 - 16:10] What does anti-racism mean in sociology?

• [16:10 - 23:21] What is the "deficits perspective" in sociology? What are some of the problems with it?

• [23:21 - 24:29] What works have been central to thinking about African Americans as disadvantaged?

• [24:29 - 27:36] How did Pattillo come to see the downsides to highlighting disadvantages in Black communities?

• [27:36 - 30:35] What, if any, is the emancipatory potential in what Pattillo calls "Black Advantage Vision"?

Host: Brian T. Edwards

Executive Producer: Gabriela Garcia Mayes

Music: Cory Diane

Production Assistant: Maggie Green