Founded in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 2001, Sociologists Without Borders/Sociólogos Sin Fronteras (SSF) is a

Non-Governmental Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

that advances a cosmopolitan sociology and its activities are considered to be

public sociology Public sociology is a subfield of the wider sociological discipline that emphasizes expanding the disciplinary boundaries of sociology in order to engage with non-academic audiences. It is perhaps best understood as a ''style'' of sociology rath ...

. The organization has active chapters in Brazil, Chile, Italy, Spain the U.S., Canada, and Iran. The Spanish and U.S. chapters each have international members. Each of the chapters has regular meetings and organizes sessions at national sociological conferences, and there is an affiliated online, peer-reviewed journal.

Overview

The group's central pedagogical aim is to develop a globally inclusive sociological curriculum. Its epistemological premise is that human rights and collective goods (including sustainable natural resources and participatory democracy) are two aspects of the same concept. As Sociologists, the group advances

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

by working through communities, societies, the workplace, and other

social institutions Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

. They advance the right to decent employment, social security, education, housing, food security, health care, the rights to cultural, racial, religious, and to an identity and sexual preference. Human rights also includes gender equality and the principle that vulnerable groups need special protections, including children, the aged, the disabled, oppressed racial and ethnic minorities, migrants, and indigenous peoples. These principles are drawn from the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...

(1948) that recognizes "the inherent dignity" and "the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family," from various

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's treaties and declarations on culture. Human rights are realized with the advance and protection of common (collective) goods, including a sustainable environment, transparent laws and government, natural resources, the internet and information grids, fair trade, food sovereignty (the rights of farmers and fishers to manage their own resources), and participatory democracy. Indeed, human rights are themselves common goods because they are indivisible and inclusive. The group's framework is considered utopian, and Sociologists Without Borders takes the view that this is necessary in a world in crisis: wars, civil strife, diminishing environmental resources, epidemics, and the growing economic gap between the Global North and the Global South. What this pessimistic account leaves out, and what Sociologists without Borders stresses, is that there are growing interdependencies and solidarities around the world and these draw less from nation-states than they do from the capabilities and resourcefulness of ordinary people.

The SSF Think Tank

On July 25, 2008, the SSF US Chapter released an online discussion platform for reflection and discussion among concerned sociologists, other social scientists, NGOs, governments, academics, students, activists, journalists, and individuals who want to discover and hopefully help fight the "Challenges to Human Rights" in a global environment. This has since been taken over by The Development Cafe and is now run as Global Sociology Network, independent of the SSF.

2010 Arizona Boycott

In response to Arizona

SB 1070 The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest an ...

, SSF petitioned Arizona Governor

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine, formerly Warren; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician and author who was the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman (and was t ...

to roll back the law, stating: "SSF believes that Arizona Law SB1070 is a form of

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...

and discrimination because officers will likely rely on appearance, phenotypes, language and accents to make judgments that will lead to the unnecessary harassment or detention of US citizens and residents, including SSF members and other Sociologists." SSF began a boycott of public and private entities within Arizona and encouraged their members not to travel to the state.

Members and Office Bearers

* Davita Silfen Glasberg, President, US Chapter * Lisa Hajjar, Vice President, US Chapter * Mark Frezzo, Past Vice President, US Chapter * David Brunsma, Treasurer, US Chapter * Molly Talcott, Secretary, US Chapter * Autumn McClellan, Administrative Manager, US Chapter * April Stapp, Graduate Student Representative, US Chapter * ''Societies Without Borders'' Journal Editors: David Brunsma, Mark Frezzo, Keri Iyall Smith * Representatives to American Association for the Advancement of Science: Judith Blau, Mark Frezzo, Jerry Krase (Alternate) * Beatrice and Sidney Award Committee: Gran (Chair), Joe Feagin, Walda Katz-Fishman, Judith Wittner * ASA Liaison: Louis Esparza * Poet Laureate: Rodney Coates * Ali Tayefi, President, Iran Chapter

References

External links