NEWSLETTER OF THE ALTRUISM & S OCIAL SOLIDARITY SECTION -IN -FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION VOLUME 1, I SSUE 2 DECEMBER 2009 TO BE OR STUDIES OF ALTRUISM AND SOLIDARITY IN NOT TO BE RUSSIAN SOCIAL SCIENCE —Dmitry Efremenko and Yaroslava Evseeva IN THIS ISSUE A few years ago we collectively embarked COOLEY -MEAD 2 Studies of altruism and solidarity in contempo- on an important mis- ADDRESS rary Russian sociology represent a developing sion: to form and es- trend. Several scholars are now making efforts tablish a section on FROM THE 2 to study this problem field in various contexts. Altruism and Social EDITOR However, this research area is not a fully formed Solidarity within the specialized direction of sociological research, American Sociological INTERNET 3 institutionalized within the Russian sociological Association. We have RESOURCES community. For instance, at the latest All-Russia completed a part of Sociological Congress (October 2008) a number this mission: we are THE SOROKIN 4 of papers were presented on various facets of now recognized as a CENTER solidarity, but there was no special session or Section in Formation. round table on the topic, nor were there any on RESEARCH 5-6 We have also com- social altruism. UPDATES posed a Mission State- ment, published our Russian philosophers and social thinkers of the MISSION 7 section proposal to second half of the 19th and beginning of the STATEMENT ASA as an article in 20th century discussed a variety of aspects of The American Soci- social solidarity and altruism. In particular, the VAISEY ESSAY 8 ologist, and completed eminent Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov BOYNS ESSAY two editions of our wrote in his article titled “Pity and altru- 9 Section Newsletter, ism” (1895; English transl. 1918) that “the altru- STEBBINS 10 under the editorship of istic principle in morality… is deeply rooted in ESSAY Matthew T. Lee. It is our being in the form of the feeling of pity appropriate for us to which man has in common with other living BOOKS OF 11- 1 congratulate ourselves. creatures.” Ethical foundations of altruism and INTEREST 16 solidarity were paid attention to by P. Kropotkin But our mission is just and A. Yarotsky. Priority in the studies of altru- NICHOLS ESSAY 16 beginning. We must ism and solidarity within the Russian sociologi- all be aware that we cal tradition belongs to P. Sorokin. Sorokin’s “S OCIOLOGY 17- stand at a crucial stage personality and sociological legacy, though, also OF LOVE ” 22 in our development. unites Russian sociologists with their American SYLLABUS Continued on page 26…. Continued on page 23.... FILM REVIEW 24 Altruism & Social Solidarity 1 COOLEY -MEAD PRESENTATION FOCUSES ON ALTRUISM Jane Allyn Piliavin’s Cooley-Mead Presentation to the Social Psychology Section at the 2008 meetings of the American Sociological Association was recently published in Social Psychology Quarterly (Vol. 72, No. 3). Piliavin is Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has made a major contribution to the literature on altruism, as well as many other areas of study, over the course of her distinguished career. The title of her address is “Altruism and Helping: The Evolution of a Field.” In this lecture, she addresses definitional issues surrounding “altruism” and “prosocial behavior” while offering a helpful history of this field of study. She notes that, “many people believe that there is no such thing as al- truism” (p. 211). This is indeed a challenge that many of us in the Altruism & Social Solidarity Section-In- Formation continue to confront. Fortunately, her own work and the research that she reviews clearly demon- strates the utility of altruism as a concept. Her remarks are organized around a series of questions, such as: “Why do people help?” “What are the origins of helping and altruism?” “Can altruism be trained?” and “How are organizations related to prosocial behavior?” Whether you are just getting started in this field of study, or you are a seasoned veteran, Piliavin’s address provides an essential overview of sociological an- swers to these important questions. —Editor FROM THE EDITOR As this newsletter dem- among scholars of altru- I am grateful for the onstrates, members of ism and social solidarity. high-quality contribu- the Altruism & Social This is one of the rea- tions that I received for Solidarity Section-in- sons why we need to this issue. Your hard Formation have been transform our Section-in work has made my job busy since the publica- -Formation into a regu- as editor much easier. tion of our previous is- lar Section of the ASA. Please continue to send sue. Highlights include Vincent Jeffries’ call-to- me essays, research up- the international per- action on page 1 (“To dates, book reviews, an- spectives of Dmitry Be or Not to Be”) nouncements, etc. for H E LP US Efremenko and Yaro- future issues. should provide addi- BE COME A slava Evseeva of the tional motivation and I One final note: our REGULAR Institute for Scientific urge you to consider it members are diverse, Information on Social carefully and then re- but the vast majority of SE CTIO N OF Sciences at the Russian cruit new members for the submissions for the THE ASA… Academy of Sciences our section. We are in- first two issues of this on page 1 and Pavel deed at a crossroads. newsletter have been J O IN THE Krotov at the Sorokin Our Section has great authored by white men. A LTRUISM & Research Center in the potential for national I will attempt to expand S O CIAL Republic of Komi, Rus- and international field- the diversity of perspec- sian Federation on page building. But in order to tives in subsequent is- S OLIDARITY 4. It is encouraging to achieve our collective sues and I would appre- SE CTIO N - IN - see this newsletter serve goals, we will need to ciate your help with this F ORMATION as a forum for interna- build our membership effort. tional social networking sooner rather than later. T ODAY ! —Matthew T. Lee Altruism & Social Solidarity 2 INTERNET RESOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF ALTRUISM AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY SCIENCE OF GENEROSITY ELECTRONIC LIBRARY : A WEB -BASED RESOURCE FOR SCHOLARSHIP ON GENEROSITY The University of Notre Dame’s Science of For abstracts of recent articles on altruism and Generosity Initiative has established a website reciprocity, click on this link: http:// with literature reviews, bibliographies, book generosityresearch.nd.edu/publications-2/ summaries, working papers, and abstracts on literature-reviews/addendum . For more details altruism and related topics (see http:// about the $5 million Science of Generosity Ini- generosityresearch.nd.edu/publications-2). tiative, check out the article in the previous is- Sample topics include: altruism and reciproc- sue of the newsletter of the Altruism & Social ity, philanthropy, gift-giving, volunteering, re- Solidarity Section-in-Formation. ligious giving, and organizational citizenship. —Editor The Sorokin Archive and Lecture series at the University of Saskatchewan In 1968, the University of Saskatchewan obtained part of the personal library of Professor Pitirim Sorokin. The materials included letters, notebooks, photographs, books, original and revised manu- scripts, his works in all other translations, and book reviews. As part of the arrangement for receiv- ing this unique research resource, the University of Saskatchewan agreed to hold an annual lecture in Professor Sorokin's honor. Since that time the Sorokin Lecture has been part of the University of Saskatchewan lecture series. The Department of Sociology has had the responsibility for organizing this lecture series since its inception. Most Sorokin lectures have been published by the University. Many of them can be purchased from the Department of Sociology for $7.50. The availability of this collection has made it possible for researchers to visit the campus to use the collection for re- search purposes. The 40th Annual Sorokin Lecture was presented by Dr. Peter Jarvis in March 2009. The title of the lecture was “The End of a Sensate Age — What Next?” Prominent sociologists who have delivered the Sorokin lecture include Dorothy E. Smith and Craig Calhoun. For more information, visit http:// www.arts.usask.ca/sociology/department/sorokin.php . —Editor Altruism & Social Solidarity 3 THE PITIRIM SOROKIN RESEARCH CENTER: FOUNDATION AND GOALS —Pavel Krotov, Director, Sorokin Research Center The Pitirim Sorokin Research Center was estab- cultural agenda for the region; (2) To conduct lished in 2009 at Syktyvkar State University specific research on Sorokin and his writings; (Republic of Komi, Russian Federation). The and (3) To apply his ideas and concepts to the Center is an outcome of a long-standing joint analysis of social phenomena. A research pro- effort involving the Komi Government, academ- ject on survival mechanisms in household econ- ics, and community activists to foster studies of omy will serve as an example of the latter: For this prominent sociologist in the land of his nearly twenty years a team of Komi sociologists birth. headed by Dr.Pavel Krotov studied differences among various sectors of the economy undergo- Such diverse interest in Pitirim Sorokin coming ing transition from the Communist system. Their from this part of the Russian Federation was not various effects on social institutions were stud- an accident. The government of Komi has rec- ied, applying the theory of economic involution, ognized the possibility that his example could elements of institutional analysis, and in some provide a new "role model" for the Komi people, instances, a "commodity-based" approach. especially by raising the interest of the younger Through close collaboration with professor Mi- generation in education. Since the fall of Com- chael Burawoy (University of California, Berke- munism, the absence of new moral leadership ley) and professor Simon Clark (Warwick Uni- has become one of the main reasons for social versity) the research team learned international and ethical erosion affecting all of Russian soci- patterns of conducting sociological research and ety, including Komi society.