SPRING 2008 Healthy Outlook Division of Health, Health Policy and Health Services of the Society for the Study of Social Problems Amy J. Schulz Division Co-Chair Health Behavior and Health Education School of Public Health University of Michigan ajschulz@umich.edu Emily S. Ihara Division Co-Chair Department of Social Work George Mason University eihara@gmu.edu Send Correspondence to: Alexis Bender Healthy Outlook, Editor Department of Sociology PO Box 5020 Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 or abender1@student.gsu.edu Statement from the Co-Chair Emily S. Ihara Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Division: Happy New Year and Happy Lunar New Year! One of the great things about living in a multicultural society is the opportunity to celebrate many occasions and holidays. Regardless of which New Year you celebrate, hope and change are often central. We have already had an exciting beginning to 2008 with increased voter participation across the U.S. in the primary elections, close races for the nomination on both sides in many states, and the issue of health care access on the minds of the electorate. The Democratic front-runnersstate that their goal is universal health care and the Republican front-runners emphasize affordable and high quality health care. Although the political discussion of these issues is not likely to move outside of the box, we should retain hope that we as scholars, activists, and concerned citizens can push the boundaries for a healthier and more just society, both individually and collectively. One of the ways we can enrich our thinking and creativity is by engaging in active discussion about the issues that we are most passionate about. I am looking forward to the 58th SSSP Annual Meeting which will be held in Boston from July 31 to August 2. As always, there will be many interesting sessions which the Health, Health Policy and Health Services Division will sponsor and co-sponsor. I hope that all of you are planning to participate in the meeting as presenters and attendees as we address this year’s theme, “Crossing Borders: Activist Scholarship, Globalization, and Social Justice.” Our division is a strong and vibrant group of more than 300 individuals representing many institutions and an extensive breadth of research interests, expertise, and experience. Together we can inspire, provoke, and challenge one another to cross our own boundaries in our quest to find solutions for social justice. All the best for the New Year! Emily The Third US-UK Medical Sociology Conference—A Residential Conference SPRING 2008 Expanding Comparative Frames for Medical Sociology: Professionals, Patients and the Public Plenary Speakers: Ichiro Kawachi Harvard University Susan Scrimshaw Simmons College Clive Seale Brunel University, UK Elizabeth Armstrong Princeton University Date: July 29-31, 2008 (Directly preceding the 2008 ASA meeting) Location: Simmons College Boston, Massachusetts Registration Fee: $160 (includes meals & snacks; special rates and limited scholarships for graduate students). Limited to the first 100 registrants Accommodations: From $80-$185/night Online Registration: available now at www.regonline/MedSoc2008 This is the third in a series of residential conferences designed to bring together scholars of sociology of health and illness in a small group setting. Rather than traditional panel presentations, the format of this conferences alternates between invited plenary presentations and small working group meetings focused on topics listed below. Inspired by Mike Bury and Peter Conrad, the two previous meetings have taken place in the UK: the first at Royal Holloway College, London University in 1999 and the second held at the University of Edinburgh in June 2006. Working group topics include: * The changing structure of health care * Chronic illness/Disease * Gender and health * Health disparities * Mental illness * Health Policy * Patient and public involvement * Doctor-patient interaction Organizers: Mike Calnan (University of Kent, UK); Peter Conrad (Brandeis University, US); Judy Green (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK); Valerie Leiter (Simmons College, US); Karen Lutfey (New England Research Institutes, US); Sigrun Olafsdottir (Boston University, US); Bernice Pescosolido (Indiana University, US); Patricia Rieker (Boston University, US); Jonathan Tritter (University of Warwick, UK) Meeting Sponsors: Simmons College & NHS Contact person: Sarafina Kennedy Sarafina.Kennedy@gmail.com Call for Newsletter Editor We are looking to fill the position of Newsletter Editor to start in the fall following the annual meeting. Could you or someone you know be interested in serving as the editor? This is an excellent opportunity for a graduate student! The newsletter editor works closely with the division co-chairs and serves a valuable role in communicating what is happening in the division and sharing information about member achievements. If you are interested in learning more about this rewarding position, please contact Amy Schulz at amy@schulz.com or Alexis Bender at abender1@student.gsu.edu for further information. Elections are Open! You should have received a link to the online division elections by now. If not, you can use this link to access the ballot: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageId/1017. For security reasons, you will need to login to the website. You can read the candidate’s full resumes here: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/1076/fuseaction/poll.ballotViewPublic The elections close on March 4, 2008, so don’t delay! Candidate Information Cherylon Robinson is Associate Professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has moonlighted for the last 9 years as a social worker in the county hospital in San Antonio, serving the uninsured of Bexar County. This experience has resulted in an increased commitment to promotion of better health care and health care policy in the U.S. Her publications include "Emergent Legal Definitions of Parentage in Assisted Reproductive Technology” in the Journal of Family Social Work (2004), "Role Taking and Role Making Among Female Red Cross Workers in Viet Nam” in Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology (2003), and “Managing the Disappointment of Job Termination: Outplacement as a Cooling Out Device” in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences (2004) among others. Edna A. Viruell-Fuentes is Assistant Professor of Latina and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Viruell-Fuentes’ health disparities research seeks to unravel the complex relationships between immigration and health. Her work builds on the premise that studying immigrant health offers insights into the impact of social contexts on health status, which in turn can contribute to the elimination of health disparities. Based on her field research in immigrant communities, she has proposed several conceptual re-directions to immigrant health research. She is currently testing these ideas in her quantitative work and conducting a project to examine the (health) impacts of migration in immigrant-sending communities. Dr. Viruell-Fuentes is the co-author of several publications on community-based participatory research. In addition, she is the author of “‘My heart is always there’: The Transnational Practices of First-generation Mexican Immigrant and Second-generation Mexican American Women, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 13(July-September 2006), 335-362. Her article “Beyond acculturation: Immigration, Discrimination, and Health Research among Mexicans in the United States” appeared in October 2007 in Social Science and Medicine. CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2008 Critical Sociology Conference POWER AND RESISTANCE: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS, POSSIBLE FUTURES The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers Boston, Massachusetts, USA August 3, 2008 Critical Sociology in cooperation with the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), the SSSP Global Division, the ASA Section on Marxist Sociology, and SAGE Publications is pleased to provide this special one-day forum for building an ever broader community that can propose, discuss and debate creative critical/activist scholarship. The 21st Century was greeted early on by an explosive “blowback” on September 11, 2001, shaking the forward operating base of global capital and triggering the alarms of an accumulated crisis that was well underway and continues to simmer across the globe. With the post-WW II social pact all but abandoned in the U.S., a growing financial crisis, and the stagnating social democracies of old Europe backing into recurrent, post-Fordist crises, the spotlight has shifted. An era of newly emerging geo-economic centers of gravity, symbolized by a barely controllable expansion in China, threatens to intensify energy and environmental crises worldwide. The expressions of this 21st Century crisis can be seen in efforts to criminalize waves of immigration generated by neoliberal capitalist expansion, in recurrent outbreaks of racist and sexist victimization, in systematic expansion of policies of neglect within a class stratified system of social service, in intensifying social control packaged as national defense against manufactured “enemies,” and in the development and employment of multiple technologies of genocide. Both inside and outside of centers of power, the rise of new fundamentalisms worldwide under Judeo- Christian and Moslem labels are working in clumsy concert to smother and overwhelm the growing global demands for expanded social, political and human rights. Throughout much of the past century the discipline of sociology struggled to advance beyond its roots in 19th Century thinking. Sociology in the early 21st Century now confronts a similar challenge of entanglement with its 20th Century roots, struggling to consolidate new paradigms that can adequately capture the dynamics of a rapidly changing social reality. In this daunting context, progressive sociologists seek not only to understand society through ongoing theorizing and critical reflection but also to change the world in which we live through the systematic generation of socially usable knowledge promoting progressive social transformation. From its roots in European critical theory, a critical sociology first emerged in the North American context, as elsewhere, during periods of paradigmatic crisis, in periods when the contradictions between establishment sociology and its surrounding social realities were particularly acute. For over three decades, the journal Critical Sociology has been a leading voice of radical and progressive sociological analysis. Originally published as the Insurgent Sociologist, the journal emerged out of the turbulent 1960s and was formed when the "Sociology Liberation Movement" erupted at the 1969 meetings of the American Sociological Association (ASA). Critical Sociology has from the onset been committed to publishing scholarship from a Marxist, post- Marxist, Feminist, and other critical perspectives. Its current editorial mission is to encourage publication of such scholarship from all parts of the globe with the aim of understanding and transforming contemporary capitalist society. In addition to invited speakers, we are asking for proposals for panels or papers for this conference. Paper proposals should include contact information for the author/s and a short abstract. Panel proposals should include a title and theme of the panel and a list of papers and authors. Please send all proposals to the organizers at critical.sociology@gmail.com no later than MARCH 15, 2008 for full consideration. The organizers will invite all contributors to this conference to collaborate with the journal and contribute to a special issue of Critical Sociology, and perhaps an edited volume, on the conference themes. Tentative Panel Themes Include: I: Critical Institutionalism and the Changing Political Economy II: Transnational Social Movements and Global Social Change III: Race and the Explosive Contradictions of Immigration IV: Feminist Contributions to Transforming Sociology V: What’s “left” of postmodern critical theory? VI: Moving Forward From the U.S. Social Forum VII: Neoliberal Crises and the Leftist Resurgence in Latin America VIII: Towards Progressive Social Policy Conference Organizers: David Fasenfest, Wayne State University, and Editor, Critical Sociology Richard A. Dello Buono, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas NOTE: This one-day conference being organized by the SAGE Journal CRITICAL SOCIOLOGY is being held the day following the SSSP Annual Meeting in the SSSP Hotel. By cooperative facilities agreement, all SSSP members registered for the 2008 Annual Meeting may attend and participate in the 2008 Critical Sociology Conference free of charge. Continued on next page NEWS OF NOTE!!! Congratulations to Valerie Leiter and Stephen J. Morewitz. Valerie just got tenure and promotion to Associate Professor! Stephen J. Morewitz’s new book, Aging and Chronic Disorders (with Mark L. Goldstein) (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2007), won a Nicki's Pick in Academia, An Online Magazine and Resource for Academic Libraries and his other book Domestic Violence and Maternal and Child Health (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2004) is on the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Suggested Reading List. Do you have News of Note? We would love to hear from you!!! Items of interest are new books, promotions, successful dissertation defenses, acquisition of first jobs and anything else you would like to share with fellow division members. Also let us know about calls for papers and relevant grants or fellowships. Send your good news to Alexis Bender at the correspondence address listed on page 4. Critical Sociology Research Competition Deadline: May 5, 2008 The Sage journal Critical Sociology announces its Research Competition, to be awarded at the Critical Sociology Conference in August 2008. The goal of this award is to recognize and promote original critical scholarship that furthers the aims and goals of the journal. We wish to recognize the best paper written and so this competition is open to everyone. Over the past decade the journal has been home to articles informed by post-modern, feminist, cultural and other perspectives that critically evaluate the workings of the capitalist system and its impact on the world. This year’s award recipient will receive a monetary prize of $750 and registration for the 2008 Critical Sociology Conference in Boston, MA, where the winner(s) will be invited to present their paper. Papers must be submitted electronically in a format compatible with MS WORD and authors should ensure that they receive a confirmation of receipt for their submission. Papers of up to a maximum length of 30 double-spaced pages including tables and references may be sent beginning in March 2008 but must be received no later than May 5, 2008 to the Chair of the 2008 Critical Sociology Award Committee: Professor Graham Cassano, graham@xrgb.com. Authors will be invited to submit their paper for publication in Critical Sociology. Graduate Student Paper Competition Deadline: May 1, 2008 All graduate students are encouraged to apply for this annual paper award competition. The paper should be related to the broad Division interest, including health and illness, health policy, and health services. The paper submission should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages and should be prepared for anonymous review (with the author specified on a title page but not referred to in other parts of the text). Current graduate students and recent graduates (who received their degrees after January 2007) may submit a paper if it was written while still a student. Papers based on theses or dissertations are acceptable. (Please do not submit the thesis or dissertation itself.) Co-authored papers are acceptable as long as all the listed authors are current graduate students. Double submission to other SSSP award competitions will be disqualified. The award recipient will be required to present the winning paper at the 2008 SSSP Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. Thus it is strongly recommended that an abstract of the paper be submitted to any Health Division session organizer or the roundtable organizer by the January 31st deadline. The recipient will receive a monetary prize of $100, student membership to SSSP, SSSP conference registration, and a ticket to the SSSP awards banquet. Send an electronic copy of the paper (in Word format) and a cover letter identifying your graduate program to: Professor Elizabeth Ettorre, e.ettorre@liverpool.ac.uk. The SSSP Conference Hotel Group: THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS Date: July 28- August 4, 2008 Rates: $199.00 per night, Run of House $299.00 per night, Towers Level Concierge (Rates are exclusive of tax, which is presently 12.45% and subject to change without notice). Hotel: Located in the heart of historic Back Bay, The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers is one of Boston’s most recognized and renowned landmarks. The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, a member of Historic Hotels of America, was constructed in March, 1927, a monument to its creator, E.M. Statler. Guestrooms: The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers provides 941 guestrooms, Towers Level Concierge Floor and 65,000 square feet of flexible function space. Services available in all guestrooms include cable channels, high speed Internet service, in-room movies, climate control, black out curtains, in-room hairdryers, irons and ironing boards and more. Reservations: Please go to http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/SOC0725 to learn more about the event and to book, modify, or cancel a reservation from October 09, 2007 to July 31, 2008. You can also call 1.800.225.2008 to make your reservation; be sure to request The Society for the Social Problems room rate. Kindly note, guestrooms reservation must be guaranteed with a credit card. Check-in is 3:00pm and Check-out is noon. Cancellation policy is by 6:00pm the day prior to arrival. Cut-off Date: Reservations must be confirmed by Monday, July 7, 2008 to guarantee our negotiated group rate. Reservations received after or if the room block is filled prior to that date, are subject to availability. 50 Park Plaza at Arlington Street Boston, MA 02116-3912 Telephone 617.426.2000/ Fax 617.426.5545 www.bostonparkplaza.com Call for Submissions: The Association for Humanists Sociology The Association for Humanists Sociology [AHS] would like to invite submissions for our 2008 Annual Meeting at the John Hancock Center in Boston, MA, November 6-9. Our conference theme is "What is to be Done? Public Sociology in Theory and Practice." Deadline: July 1 , 2008 While public sociology has attracted excitement in recent years, sociology as a resource for social action is not new. From Marx and Mills, to Dubois and Jane Addams, to Al Lee and Francis Fox Piven, the reemergence of public sociology is really the product of a long march by politically interested and socially engaged scholars through educational institutions, professional associations and publications, and other places where sociology is done. Yet, public sociology remains a contested terrain, criticized as "too political" by some and "not political enough" by others. Since our inception in 1976, AHS and its members have been contemplating and practicing public sociology, mostly from the margins of the discipline. Now that public sociology is front and center, we ought to have much to say about it: historically, theoretically, ethically, politically, and practically. This Annual Meeting is an opportunity to examine the past, evaluate the present, and begin to shape the future of a public sociology that matters. Paper submissions should address some aspect of public sociology and its relationship to teaching, activism, policy or community-based research, or other aspects of sociology as they relate to incorporating humanist goals with sociological work. Please send papers, abstracts, posters or session/workshop ideas to Program Director Daniel Egan, Daniel_Egan@uml.edu or AHS President, Corey Dolgon, cdolgon@worcester.edu.