Pragmatist thought is central to sociology. However, sociologists
typically encounter pragmatism from a distance, through the works of
canonical social scientists including George Herbert Mead, Herbert
Blumer, Erving Goffman, and W. E. B. DuBois, rather than the
philosophers who founded the school of thought, such as Charles S.
Peirce, John Dewey, and William James.
In The New Pragmatist Sociology, Neil Gross, Isaac Ariail Reed, and
Christopher Winship assemble a range of sociologists to address
essential ideas in the field and their historical and theoretical
connection to classical pragmatism. The book examines questions of
methodology, social interaction, and politics across the broad themes of
inquiry, agency, and democracy. Essays engage widely and deeply with
topics that motivate both pragmatist philosophy and sociology, including
rationality, speech, truth, expertise, and methodological pluralism.
Contributors include Natalie Aviles, Karida Brown, Daniel Cefaï, Mazen
Elfakhani, Luis Flores, Daniel Huebner, Cayce C. Hughes, Paul
Lichterman, John Levi Martin, Ann Mische, Vontrese D. Pamphile, Jeffrey
N. Parker, Susan Sibley, Daniel Silver, Mario Small, Iddo Tavory, Stefan
Timmermans, Luna White, and Joshua Whitford.
