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Section Annual Report for Section 8, Theory

2018

by John R. Hall, Past Chair This annual report covers the period of section activity from September 2017 to August 2018 and a fiscal year from January 2018 to December 2018. The report is typically completed by the immediate past chair of each section as it covers the period this person served as chair. However, it is often completed in consultation with other officers and it may be submitted by anyone on the section council. Sections that do not file an Annual Report will have their budget allocation withheld until a complete report is received. Please submit the report by November 15. Section Governance Provide details of your section’s governance activity during the period between September 2017 and August 2018.

Business Meeting Copy and paste below (or attach separately) the agenda and approved meeting minutes from the section business meeting which include a count of members present and summary of decisions made at this meeting.

The items discussed at the business meeting were as follows:

1. John Hall thanked officers of the section, gave a report on council meeting just completed, introduced newly elected chair-elect and council members, and reported the passage of the bylaws amendment concerning election of one student member of council each year for a two-year term.

2. There was no old business. 3. The secretary-treasurer, Iddo Tavory, gave his report 4. The chair of the membership committee, Stephen Ostertag, gave his report. 5. The chair presented the ASA section public engagement liaison request and asked for volunteers;

followup will be with 2018-2019 section chair. 6. The section chair listed the Council’s nominations, made per bylaws, for the Nominations

Committee and the Theory Prize Committee, and by a voice vote, they were approved. 7. The section chair solicited nominations for the Junior Theorist Prize Committee, per bylaws, and

nominations from the floor were passed to the chair-elect for her consideration. 8. The section chair introduced the incoming section chair, Marion Fourcade, who discussed her

plans for the year ahead. 9. Various committee chairs presented section awards.

Attendance sheet passed out yielded 42 listed on 4 attendance sheets; 1 attendance sheet was not returned, therefore, full attendance is estimated on a proportional basis to be 52. No decisions were made beyond approval of committee nominations.

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Council Meeting Copy and paste below (or attach separately) the agenda and approved meeting minutes of all Council Meetings conducted between August 2017 and September 2018. Minutes must include a list of council members present and a summary of decisions made. Minutes are not a transcript of proceedings but a listing of what discussions took place and official actions taken.

The council meeting covered the following agenda: 1. Introductions were made, and new council members were congratulated; the chair reported the

passage of the bylaws amendment concerning election of one student member of council each year for a two-year term

2. Old business – none. 3. Secretary-Treasurer’s report and budget, tabled, to be provided at business meeting. 4. New Business. 5. Discussion of how to increase membership in section. 6. Perspectives newsletter report, which focused on spring publication date question. 7. Junior Theorist Symposium discussion: the organizers, Allison Ford and Lindsay Edwards, were

congratulated on a successful symposium with attendance of approximately 60. The organizers reported having identified organizers for next year’s symposium. JTS finances were discussed, with concern raised about expenses for this year’s symposium, which went over budget, in part due to unanticipated tech charges from Penn. A proposal for supplemental funding for $800 backstop for this year’s JTS was approved. Concern expressed about need for JTS to minimize amount requested from Theory section in future years.

8. Council members offered committee nominations for the Nominations Committee and the Theory Prize Committee, per bylaws.

9. Theory section prizes: discussion was held concerning whether section membership should be required for any of them, no change proposed.

10. Coser Award funds, initiation of financial award discussed [previous year’s discussion: wait until a continuing commitment to a significant award plus expenses can be made, without eating into fund]. Discussion: no change proposed.

11. Award naming issue: proposal by Erin McDonnell for naming a section prize after Art Stinchcombe was introduced and a variety of considerations discussed. Action: placed on agenda for further discussion at 2019 Theory section council meeting.

12. Public engagement liaison request from ASA: discussed, chair to seek volunteer at business meeting. 13. ASA anti-harassment policy discussion. Statement from Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, ASA president:

discussed: decision that Marion Fourcade will distribute ASA statement to program sessions organizers.

11 people were present for the council meeting: Hillary Angelo, Claudio Benzecry, Linsey Edwards [JTS], Luis Flores, Allison Ford [JTS], Marion Fourcade, John R. Hall, katrina quisumbing king, Greta Krippner, Simeon Newman, Stephen Ostertag.

The Previous Year Describe section activities during the period between September 2017 and August 2018.

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• Membership recruitment and retention – What efforts did the section make to retain members and reach out to new members? What were the results of the efforts?

As a result of a vigorous recruiting effort spearheaded by a membership committee and including gifting of student memberships, we ended the year with 801 members, down from 826 members in 2017. Currently, 494 people are regular members of the theory section. We have 272 student members. The decline in membership relative to the previous year is due to a drop of 26 in low-income members. The section’s Council meeting included a thorough discussion of how to maintain and hopefully increase membership in the section. A basic concern is that a number of sociologists doing important theoretical work do not see themselves as theorists.

• Communications – How does the section communicate with its members? Did it begin using any new technologies or strategies? If so, were they effective? Include links to the section website, newsletters, and any other electronic media used.

The section was in touch with members through the listserv, and also through our newsletter. The editors of the section’s newsletter, Perspectives have done an excellent job on the two 2017-2018 issues. The section website is http://www.asatheory.org. The section chair sent occasional emails with time-sensitive announcements to section members.

• Mentoring – What, if any, mentoring opportunities does the section offer to students, early career faculty, nonfaculty, etc.? The Theory section continued its coordination with, and facilitation and financial support of the Junior Theorists Symposium, which includes participation of graduate students and early-career faculty, with mentoring by more senior faculty.

• Programming – Provide an overview of the section’s programming at the annual meeting, scholarly/ professional development activities outside of the annual meeting, development of substantive resources, partnerships with other sections or groups, etc.

Our ASA panels included a wonderful, intellectually-diverse set of roundtables and four regular sessions, all quite well attended. The regular sessions included two invited sessions organized by Isaac Reed and Anne Marie Champagne: Social Theory and Political Modernity in Crisis: Authority, Power, Violence; and Sociology and Philosophy in Conversation. Two open-submissions sessions, organized by John Hall and Simeon Newman, were: Trespassing /Poaching/ Raiding /Transcending, Session I: Schema, Conceptualizations, and Tools for Sociological Analysis; and Trespassing /Poaching/ Raiding /Transcending, Session II: Culture, action, practice, and occasion. We also sponsored the Coser salon, where Gabriel Abend of NYU gave a fasciating lecture on "Thick Concepts and Sociological Research," after which there was a highly engaged discussion with the audience. Plans for the Coming Year Describe section plans for the period between September 2018 and August 2019. These plans should align with the 2018 budget and proposed 2019 budget below.

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• Membership recruitment and retention – What efforts will the section make to retain members and reach out to new members? What are the goals of the efforts? The section will continue its vigorous member recruitment efforts. We will reach out to former members who have recently dropped their section membership, as well as to attendees of the Junior Theorists Symposium and the Theory sessions at the ASA annual meeting. We will encourage faculty members to sponsor student memberships in the section.

• Communications – How does the section plan to communicate with its members? Does the section plan on using any new technologies or strategies? If so, how? The section chair will send monthly updates about events and job applications of interest to members via the section email list. (bi-monthly in critical periods, like early fall and early spring). In addition, the section has a lively newsletter. The newsletter editors will continue to encourage section members to post news, contribute pieces, and announce events.

• Mentoring – What efforts will the section make to mentor students, early career faculty, nonfaculty, etc.? The section plans to continue its coordination with, and financial support of, the very successful Junior Theorists Symposium, which affords an opportunity for both graduate students and early-career faculty to participate in a program that includes mentoring by more senior theorists.

• Programming – Provide an overview of the section’s upcoming plans for programming at the annual meeting, scholarly/ professional development activities outside of the annual meeting, development of substantive resources, partnerships with other sections or groups, etc.

Based on session allocations, the section is planning for six sessions at the annual meeting, including the Coser Salon’s lecture by Julian Go, one invited session on Social Theory and Social Progress (Chris Muller organizer), a second invited session on Social Theory and Social Decay (Marion Fourcade organizer), one open session on Social Theory and Social Data (Kieran Healy organizer), one open session on Social Theory for Our Grandchildren: the Future of Humanity in Theoretical Perspective (Marion Fourcade and Rebecca Elliott organizers), a one-hour roundtables session, and a business meeting. Its reception will be held jointly with the section on the Sociology of Culture. In addition, the section continues to facilitate and provide various kinds of support for the very successful Junior Theorists Symposium held offsite in coordination with the annual meetings.

2018 Finances Provide a narrative on how the 2018 budget matched with actual expenses and income from 2018. Please account for any substantive differences.

From Iddo Tavory, section secretary-treasurer: “The section’s finances are in good shape. We had an

unexpectedly high expenditure of $571 to cover the Junior Theorists Symposium, but this was offset by

lower-than-expected $1464 spent on the reception. We also paid $500 for our student award, and $262 on plaques. As of the end of the third quarter, we had $4,652 in our coffers, a net increase of $480 over last

year, which should increase a little more with membership fees in the 4th quarter. This is good news,

since this will enable us to shoulder larger-than-usual reception expenses in New York, 2019. In short: all

is well.” [Budget is attached, not inserted in the “Expected 2019 Expenditures” space below.]

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Budget for 2019 Creating a budget will help the section plan its activities for the year. Your 2019 budget should reflect the narrative in the “Plans for the Coming Year” section. The following table will help you organize and calculate a budget. Expected 2019 Expenditures

Expense Category Budgeted Amount Details (use the cells in this column to provide information on each expense)

Annual Meeting

Reception $[See attached xcel file for all items]

[See attached xcel file for all items]

Other Meeting Expenses $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Awards

Student Awards $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Award Plaques $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Other $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Communications

Website $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Newsletter $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Other $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Miscellaneous

Membership $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Other $ Enter amount Use this space to provide details

Total 2019 Budgeted Expenditures

$ Enter amount Sum estimated expenses

Estimated 2019 Income

Income Category Estimated Amount Details

Section Allocation – Base $ Enter amount ASA Office will provide figure mid-October. See note 1 on how this figure is calculated.

Section Allocation – Per Member $ Enter amount ASA Office will provide figure mid-October. See note 2 on how this figure is calculated.

Premium Dues $ Enter amount ASA Office will provide an estimated figure. See note 3 on how this figure is calculated.

Contributions

Misc

Total 2019 Estimated Income Sum estimated income

Budget Summary

Estimated Remaining Balance at $ Enter amount Accounting for all estimated costs for the

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end of December 2018 remainder of the year, estimate the remaining balance.

Total 2019 Estimated Income +$ Enter amount Fill in from the Estimated Income table above

Total 2019 Budgeted Expenditures

- $ Enter amount Fill in from the Budgeted Expenditures table above

Total = $ Enter amount To calculate net amount, sum Lines 1 and 2, then subtract Line 3.

Notes The following explains how income is calculated. By October 20, the ASA Office will provide the following information, so sections do not have to calculate estimates themselves.

1 Section Allocation – Base Based off of this year’s final membership count as of September 30, sections receive a base allocation as follows:

• Sections with 300 or more members receive a base allocation of $1,000

• Sections with fewer than 300 members and more than 200 members receive: [# of section members - 100] x $5

• Sections with fewer than 199 members receive a base allocation of $500 2 Section Allocation – Per Member Based off of this year’s final membership count as of September 30, sections receive two dollars for each member. 3 Premium Dues The base rate is $10 for regular members, $5 for students and $10 for associate, low income, and high school teacher members. Any dues raised by the sections in excess of the base rate go directly to the section throughout the year based on actual membership numbers. Subscription Fees for Section Journals are not added here.

To see current and historical membership counts, please visit www.asanet.org/SectionMembership. Please note that membership year ends on September 30.

Miscellaneous Is there any additional information about the section or the area of study you would like to share with the Committee on Sections? Is there any feedback you would like to provide to the Committee on Sections?

No.

Theory Budget for 2018-2019

For more information please contact the Section Coordinator, Justin Lini (lini@asanet.org)

Budgeted Expenditures

Annual Meeting Amount Code

Reception $2,500.00 37300

Other Meeting Expenses $0.00 37310

Misc $0.00 37320

Other $0.00 37370

Total $2,500.00 n/a

Awards Amount Code

Student Awards $500.00 37360

Award Plaques $350.00 37360

Misc $0.00 37360

Other $0.00 37360

Total $850.00 n/a

Communications Amount Code

Website $90.00 37330

Misc $0.00 37370

Other $0.00 37370

Total $90.00 n/a

Miscellaneous Amount Code

Membership 37370

Misc 37370

Other 37370

Total $0.00 n/a

Summary

Budgeted Expenditures

Estimated Income

Amount Notes

$3,440.00

$3,534.00

Notes

NotesGift Memberships may not be funded from allocated funds.

Funds must be raised for this purpose.

Use this sheet to assist with planning for the next year. All operating budgets must be approved by the section council.Note: All green shaded areas are self calculating. This budget template only covers activity for your section's primary account. Any restricted

accounts and endowments must be monitored and reported on separately. Please use the Notes field to provide information on miscellaneous or

Notes

Notes

Estimated Income

Source Amount

Section Allocation $2,548.00 774

Description

Levied Dues $986.00 493 235 46

Description

Contributions

Description

Royalties

Description

Outside Contributions

Description

Miscellaneous Income

Description

Miscellaneous Income

Description

Total $3,534.00

Anything not captured above. Please replace this text with a description

n/a

n/a

These are funds raised from members.

n/a

Royalties donated by members or generated through other activities.

n/a

Funds donated from individuals/entities outside the section.

n/a

Anything not captured above. Please replace this text with a description

n/a

"A" is determined by the overall membership size: Sections with fewer than 200 members receive a base allocation of $500.

Sections with less than 300 members but more than 200 members receive a base allocation of: (# of section members minus

100) multiplied by $5. Sections with more than 300 members receive a base allocation of $1,000. In addition the section receives

two dollars from dues of each member. To calculate this amount enter your section's membership in the shaded

box on the left. See your monthly membership report update for these numbers.

Special

Any dues raised by the sections in excess of the base rate go directly to the section's coffers. The base rate is $10 for regular

members, $5 for students and $10 for associate (low income) members. Subscription Fees for Section Journals are not added

here. To calculate this, add regular members to the light shaded box, student members to the middle shaded

box, and low income members to the dark shaded box on the left hand side. See your monthly membership

Calculated

(Members*2)+A