Shai M. Dromi is associate senior lecturer on sociology at Harvard University. He is the author of Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector and coeditor of The Handbook of the Sociology of Morality, vol. 2. Samuel D. Stabler is a doctoral lecturer in the department of sociology at Hunter College, CUNY.
“Moral Minefields offers an explosion of insight into how to approach the seemingly always politically charged project of conducting sociological research. Throughout its history, the discipline has stood between commitments to scientific inquiry and the pursuit of truth, and commitments to addressing social inequality, socio-economic disadvantage, and other moral concerns. Rather than try to resolve the push and pull emanating from both sides of this divide, readers are guided to think more critically and carefully about what constitutes the pursuit of good research that is indelibly tied to visions—either by the sociologists producing their work or the audiences receiving it—of morally sound research. Dromi and Stabler seek not to resolve the tension, but rather expose readers to sociology’s courageous embracing of it and, therefore, guide readers to think more effectively about how it can be managed going forward.” -- Alford Young, Jr., University of Michigan “Dromi and Stabler skillfully puncture a stalled debate between the value-free and deliberately activist camps of contemporary sociology, showing how scholars within our methodologically and substantively diverse field form judgments about what counts as ‘good research.’ Weaving together a range of powerful examples—from secularism to breastfeeding, cosmopolitanism, and racial inequality—their framework of moral repertoires shines new light on the field. Equally valuable to both the seasoned sociologist and the young researcher.” -- Jenny Trinitapoli, University of Chicago