Sammanfattning

Sociology's tendency to branch into applied scientific disciplines is regularly debated. This debate focuses either on the organisation of sociology in academic institutions or on how the content of sociologically informed interdisciplinary research diverges from disciplinary sociology. This article bridges these debates in a study of the sociology of food in Sweden. The aim is to analyse how Swedish food sociology reflects the tension between disciplinary sociology and interdisciplinary research. The data comprise the doctoral dissertations and post-PhD career paths of Swedish sociologists whose dissertations are about food. The article finds that these dissertations treat food either as an inherently social phenomenon or as a social lens (i.e. a social phenomenon viewed as instrumental for analysing something else). Second, it is found that sociologists whose dissertations treated food as an inherently social phenomenon were more likely to pursue careers in food sociology but also to hold affiliations outside of sociology departments. The article concludes that the academic locus of Swedish food sociology is organised outside sociology departments but that its approaches are not necessarily any less sociological. Thus, the analysis questions the basis for arguments that interdisciplinary research represents a threat to the critical and analytical core of sociology.

Nyckelord

Academic careers; academic organisation; boundary work; food; interdisciplinary research

Publicerad i

Current Sociology
2023, Volym: 71, nummer: 6, artikelnummer: 00113921211048520
Utgivare: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD

UKÄ forskningsämne

Sociologi (exklusive socialt arbete, socialpsykologi och socialantropologi)


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00113921211048520

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121742