Toban Black

Humanist and anti-humanist discourses have a long and convoluted history.  In Sociology, humanistic approaches sometimes have been deemed to be un-scientific, or inherently exclusionary.  For decades, humanist language has been met with trans-disciplinary opposition, as such conceptions have been described as passé, deceptive, or even dangerous.  To relate these questions to Sociology, this presentation will address a series of contemporary accounts.  In recent years, there has been renewed support for humanistic concepts, in at least a few fields of study.  Edward Said’s work is a noteworthy case in point.  The Sociologists Paul Gilroy, Ken Plummer, and Patricia Hill Collins also have lent support to this shunned term.  Moreover, Raewyn Connell’s work on masculinities offers a quasi-humanist approach.  Decades earlier, C. Wright left a humanistic mark on Sociology.  His critical approach and his calls for change are along the lines of reformist and radical impulses of the ‘founding fathers.’  Core strands of the discipline arguably have had humanist inclinations all along.  Karl Marx’s analysis, in particular, has been associated with much of the humanistic work in and around Sociology, since the mid-twentieth century.