Conflict Social Action Change Fall/Winter 2023 Division Newsletter of Conflict, Social Action, and Change Society for the Study of Social Problems Division Chair C Michael Awsumb Newsletter Editors Openings for Volunteers Division Council C Michael Awsumb Open Seat Open Seat Fall/Winter 2023 Volume 23 Issue 1 Contents Message from the Chair 2 Announcements Division Announcements 3 SSSP Announcements 4 2024 Annual Meeting 5 Call for Papers 6 Division Sessions 6 Co-sponsored Sessions 7 Featured Essay 8 Resistance to New Ideas Bonnie Berry Featured Members 10 Ebonie Cunningham Stringer 10 Emily Schneider 10 Diana Therese M. Veloso 11 Features Call 12 Message from the Chair Hello Conflict, Social Action, and Change Division members. I am Clay Michael Awsumb, the new division Chair for our division. I’ve been working to get my feet under me in this role while starting a new job. Apologies for only now getting a newsletter out (I had hoped to have this out in November). I was fortunate to meet with a number of you at our annual meeting this past summer. I look forward to meeting more of our members. I welcome you to reach out to me. I’ve been working at a number of things since this summer. I am working on creating an online survey for member feedback / recommendations on how best to develop the division for member needs. I should have this out for early January. I am also hoping to schedule an informal Zoom meetup for division members in January. I see this as a chance to meet more of the division, get some feedback directly, and talk about the annual meeting and submissions before the deadline for submissions closes. I will send out an email for this meeting after the new year. Overall, I am looking for ways to develop our division and the resources and opportunities it provides for us, our work, and ultimately for those our work aims to support. (e.g., I am also exploring the idea of a “Division Council,” a position for a Graduate Student representative). These would be in addition to volunteers for the newsletter — for which I hope I can solicit a couple volunteers. I am also hoping to continue to develop our newsletter with “features” (e.g., essays, interviews, reviews, spotlights on members’ work). I’ve incorporated some of this in the current issue. I want to develop a space for graduate students in this, too — a place to introduce your graduate research, share ideas and recommendations about the graduate student experience, etc. I hope to work with your graduate student members on exactly what/how this would look. I will this these ideas at this for now. …I am running up against the decline for this newsletter and need to get it emailed. Warm regards; - C CSAC Division Announcements Membership Renewal for 2024. If you haven’t already, renew your SSSP membership and membership in the Conflict, Social Action, and Change Division. Renew by December 31st and you can take advantage of the “Buy One, Get One Free” division membership promotion. Renew your membership for the 2024 calendar year online. Creating a Survey for membership feedback survey. I am (still) creating a short survey for feedback on how better to serve our division members and develop our division. I will get a link for this survey distributed soon. Please be on the look out for this survey and I look forward to your feedback and recommendations in January. 2024 Annual Meeting Announced. The theme and schedule for the 74th annual meeting of the SSSP was announced and the call for papers is now out. Our division is sponsoring 3 CSAC sessions and co-sponsoring 7 additional sessions with other divisions. More about the annual meeting on pages 5-7. Division Sponsored Sessions. Our division is sponsoring a total of 10 sessions — many of these thematic sessions for the meeting, “Toward a Sociology of Violence.” I encourage you to look through these sessions and consider submitting. CSACD Student Paper Competition. Division is sponsoring a student paper award. The winner will receive a $200 cash award, a one-year student membership to SSSP, conference registration fees, and a plaque commemorating their superb achievement. Review the annual meeting call for papers for submission guidelines (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/1702/). 2024 Newsletters. I plan to create 4 newsletters (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) in 2024 for “Volume 24” of Conflict Social Action Change. Keep this schedule and the newsletter in mind as an opportunity for sharing your work, achievements, announcements, etc. If you would like to feature an essay, be interviewed for a feature on your work, or have any questions, please email: c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com. Join the Newsletter Editorial Team. Looking to get more involved with our division? Volunteer as an editor for our division newsletter! Email me to learn more: c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com. January Zoom Division Meet-up. I am going to try to host an informal CSAC Division Zoom meet-up January. I am hoping this is an opportunity to chat with members about the division and the 2024 Annual Meeting. I will email the membership roster with this information once I get it organized. CSAC 23(1) Page 4 SSSP Announcements If you have not already, please renew your membership (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/427/fuseaction/ssspmember.portal/userid/6896) for the 2024 calendar year. Renew by December 31, 2023 to take advantage of the “Buy One, Get One Free” divisional membership promotion. Submit a paper (https://www.sssp1.org/2024_Call_For_Papers) for the 2024 Annual Meeting to be held August 9-11, 2024, at Le Centre Sheraton Montréal Hotel in Montréal, Canada. The paper submission deadline is January 31, 2024. Apply (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/261/Racial/Ethnic_Minority_Graduate_Fellowship/) for the 2024 Racial/Ethnic Minority Graduate Fellowship. Two students will be awarded a $15,000 fellowship with an additional $500 awarded for attendance at the SSSP Annual Meeting. Complete applications must be received no later than February 1, 2024. Voting in the 2024 General Election will begin online February 15 and the poll will close on March 15, 2024. Nominations and applications are open for several awards. Find more information on the SSSP Awards webpage (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/397/m/397). Deadlines vary for these awards. The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that they have approved the next editors of Social Problems (beginning June 1, 2024) and have extended the publishing contract with Oxford University Press, valid through December 31, 2029. Learn more (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/963/Announcing_the_Next_Editors/) about the new editorial team or submit a manuscript through ScholarOne Manuscripts (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/socpro). Nominations are open for candidates to run in the 2025 General Election (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/196/General_Elections/). Consider nominating a colleague or yourself (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/2178) for an elected office. All nominees must be a current member and must have attended at least one annual meeting in order to be considered. Online nominations must be received by June 15, 2024. Make your hotel reservation (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/969/Hotel_Reservation_Information/) at Le Centre Sheraton Montréal Hotel. Our single/double room rate is $280 (CAD) plus tax, per night. Book your room here (https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1695912671035&key=GRP&app=resvlink). You may also call the hotel toll-free at 1-800-325-3535. Be sure to request the SSSP 2024 Annual Conference room rate. Reservations must be confirmed by July 8, 2024 to guarantee our negotiated group rate. Reservations received after or if the room block is filled prior to that date, are subject to availability or increased rate. As the year comes to a close, consider gifting a SSSP membership (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/880/fuseaction/ssspmember.giftMembershipSelect/userid/6896) – perfect for friends, students, and colleagues alike – or support us with an online donation (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/976/fuseaction/ssspmember.donationAnytime/userid/36653). Your donations are tax deductible and help support the SSSP’s vital work. Together, we can make a difference. Call for papers to the 2024 Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada is now open. Submit a Paper (https://www.sssp1.org/2024_Call_For_Papers) for the 2024 Annual Meeting by January 31, 2024. Make sure to check out the sessions sponsored and organized by our Conflict, Social Action, and Change Division and division members! Please Renew Your Membership (https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/427/fuseaction/ssspmember.portal/userid/6896) Renew by December 31 to take advantage of the “Buy One, Get One Free” division membership promotion. CSAC 23(1) Page 5 Image of the SSSP 2024 Annual Meeting "Towards a Sociology of Violence" promotional flyer. CSAC 23(1) Page 6 2024 Annual Meeting Call for Papers Submit a paper for the 2024 Annual Meeting. to be held August 9-11, 2024, at Le Centre Sheraton Montréal Hotel in Montréal, Canada. The paper submission deadline is January 31, 2024. Submit a paper for one of the 2024 Student Paper Competitions. In order to be considered for any of the Student Paper Competitions, applicants are required to submit their papers through the annual meeting Call for Papers, https://www.sssp1.org/2024_Call_for_Papers, prior to the January 31, 2024 submission deadline. This will ensure that winning papers are both designated and included in the program. Note: students may only submit to one division, papers are not eligible for presentation or division competitions or awards/scholarships/fellowships if they have been published or accepted for publication before being submitted for consideration, and papers are not eligible if they have been presented previously at SSSP or presented or accepted for presentation at other professional meetings, unless they have been revised substantially with new data, findings, or theoretical contributions. Annual Meeting Information Webpage: https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/962/Annual_Meeting_Information/ What’s a “CRITICAL DIALOGUE”? A “THEMATIC” session? Haven’t been to
one of SSSP’s Annual Meetings before? Find answers to your q questions on the: SSSP Annual Meeting FAQ 2024 Call for Papers FAQ Sessions Sponsored by our Conflict, Social Action, and Change Division Repertoires of Violence: countermovement, repression, oppression, and social control — THEMATIC. Marcos Perez (mperez@wlu.edu) CRITICAL DIALOGUE: Towards Justice and Peacemaking: new directions and activist- scholarship of conflict and change. — THEMATIC. Ebonie Cunningham Stringer (ecs296@psu.edu) Culture in Conflict, Action, and Change: resistance, mobilization, organizing, and community — THEMATIC. C Michael Awsumb (c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com) CSAC 23(1) Page 7 Cosponsored Sessions PAR and Organizing in Social Movement Spaces Organizers. Organizers: 1. Awsumb, C. Michael (c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com) 2. Pineros-Shields, Thomas (Thomas_Pinerosshields@uml.edu). Sponsors: 1. Community Research and Development. 2. Conflict, Social Action, and Change. CRITICAL DIALOGUE: Anti- Violence and Violence: Counter- hegemony from Subversive to Revolutionary-THEMATIC. Organizers: 1. Rabii, Watoii (wrabii@oakland.edu) 2. Awsumb, C. Michael (c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com ). Sponsors: 1. Community Research and Development, 2. Conflict, Social Action, and Change, 3. Critical Race and Ethnic Study. PAPERS IN THE ROUND: Gender, Religion, and Social Control. Organizers: 1. Mallick, Rafia Javaid (rmallick1@student.gsu.edu). Sponsors: Conflict, Social Action, and Change, 2. Crime and Juvenile Delinquency, 3. Gender, 4. Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities. Environmental Activism: Local to Global. Organizers: 1. Fuller, Kat [ fullek5@unlv.nevada.edu ]. Sponsors: 1. Conflict, Social Action, and Change, 2. Environment and Technology. Decolonizing the Canon: Global South Scholarship and Countering Western Hegemony in Social Problems Theory and Research. Organizers: 1. Razzaq, Faryal (faryalrazzaq11@gmail.com), 2. Tillman, Korey (k.tillman@northeastern.edu). Sponsors: 1. Conflict, Social Action, and Change, 2. Global, 3. Social Problems Theory. Theorized versus Everyday Experiences of Violence-THEMATIC. Organizers: 1. Nichols, Naomi (naominichols@trentu.ca), 2. Awsumb, C. Michael (c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com. Sponsors: 1. Conflict, Social Action, and Change, 2. Institutional Ethnography. Patterns and Practices of Resistance, Solidarity, and Organizing vis-à-vis the Conditions of Poverty and Inequality. Organizers: 1. Maani, Sara [ sara.maani@gmail.com ]. Sponsors: 1. Conflict, Social Action, and Change, 2. Poverty, Class, and Inequality. CSAC 23(1) Page 8 Feature Essay Resistance to New Ideas: Roadblocks to Scientific Discovery Bonnie Berry, PhD Director, Social Problems Research Group It’s not like I’ve never had a paper rejected for publication before. My first published article was dated 1978 and my career, like probably all academics’ careers, has been strewn with rejections for one reason or another. But when I received a rejection for a paper that I had submitted recently for journal publication, the reason for the rejection gave me pause. I began to contemplate how often good work never sees the light of day because the editors (and reviewers, if the paper gets past the desk-rejection stage) reject new, never-yet-tested ideas. There were no reviews accompanying the rejection so I assume that the paper was not even sent out for review; from that I assume that there was no chance for reviewers to weigh in on the value of my work. My paper, which will be under review again soon, had been thoroughly scrutinized more than once by two top-notch scholars who thought I was really onto something. I would not presume to rely on my own judgement about the quality of my work. But these guys? Way (way) smart, accomplished, and not easily impressed. But I remain curious as to how often good work gets trashed because it is a “think piece” unsubstantiated by numbers, which was the stated reason for the rejection. My goal in sending the paper out was to throw the idea out to an intelligent audience (the journal’s readership) and let the readers, thus exposed, pick up my idea and run with it in whatever fashion they deemed worthwhile. After all, ideas are the source of new scientific findings. As an aside, this particular paper didn’t have original data or original statistical analysis, but it wasn’t unsubstantiated. I backed up every proposition andhypothesis with the knowledge that I had already accumulated on the topic over the past 20 or so years. It didn’t, however, have numbers. Neither did Robert Merton’s “Social Structure and Anomie” as a colleague pointed out. There were no p values in that work and yet it is perhaps one of the most cited sociology papers in the 20th century. I don’t have a problem with statistics. Most of my work has been mathematically-supported, having cut my teeth on high-level statistics in the mid-1970s and thereafter. Sometimes, however, there is no statistical foundation, yet, to support or refute new ideas. That’s why I wanted the sociological audience to see what I had to offer and make use of it themselves. After a short period of feeling sorry for myself, I remembered that Elroi Windsor, our new SSSP Executive Officer, encouraged our membership to submit new ideas about the state of our discipline and, simultaneously, I got an email from the new head of the Conflict, Social Action, and Change division, Clay Awsumb, saying he would like to hear from members of our section. So I emailed both and they expressed a strong interest in having our membership be made aware of this problem of resistance to new ideas. Here’s my thinking. Essentially, the idea I posed is an elaboration of my previous work on appearance bias. Appearance bias, as you might guess, refers to judgements made about people based on their physical appearance. The consequences of these judgements can be positive or negative, as when attractive people gain all manner of social advantages because of their looks while those with stigmatized appearance traits are heavily disadvantaged. Attractiveness is a tip of the iceberg for this study since many appearance traits are neither good nor bad but merely different. Race, disability, gender, age, and social class are beyond our control to a large extent, yet they relate to how society judges our appearance. Black people are viewed by racists as lazy, violent, and otherwise less acceptable than whites. Overweight women are far more stigmatized than overweight men, paid less, harassed more, etc. SES affects whether we can afford dental care and poor dentition is stigmatized such that those with bad teeth are less likely to be hired or invited into prestigious social circles. It’s complicated but you get the idea. If you want more information, I encourage you to read my work or contact me. My new topic, behavioral bias, is an evolution of my previous work. Like physical appearance, human behavior is also visual, we make snap judgements about the behavior that we see, and, importantly, we are often wrong in our judgements. For instance, a person with a staggering gait may possess a neurological disorder instead of being intoxicated. Behavior, in my new study, includes mannerisms, gestures, stances, verbalizations, facial expressions, and all behavioral manifestations. The absence of behavior is also of interest: an expressionless face speaks volumes. As a sociologist who studies criminal behavior, I am concentrating on not just the behavior of presumed criminal suspects but also the nonbehavior of suspects. Specifically, I raise the question of what behavior Black people are engaging in that makes then automatically criminally suspect since, frequently, they aren’t doing anything but sitting in their car, walking peacefully, or standing. Overlapping with appearance bias, would law enforcement respond in the same manner to a well- dressed, middle-aged white woman engaging in the same inconspicuous behavior as a young Black male (sitting in a parked vehicle or shopping at a convenience store), resulting in police violence, even killing? Probably not. Take it a step further. If the well- dressed, middle-aged white woman had been confrontational with the police, would the police react with violence? No, and we do have cases to support that scenario. This new idea about behavioral bias, by the way, is unlimited in its utility: one can imagine how a wide array of social phenomena (religion, political protest, changing gender roles, etc.) can be enlightened through an examination of behavioral bias. I’m collecting the numbers to support or refute my questions about race, appearance, behavior, and social consequences, but to presuppose that a new idea is not even worth contemplating goes against the true purpose of science. So have at it, folks. I would like for you, my fellow SSSP members, to focus on the question about how new ideas can see the light of day given the resistance to new ideas. If you have new ideas, and you’re willing to share them given that theft of ideas is a real thing, let’s hear them. We can create a new forum for exchange of ideas; we could call it something like “The Ideas Corner.” It’s not unlikely that other SSSP members have advice, counterarguments, additional materials, and related questions. Maybe some ideas won’t pan out. That, too, is discovery and useful to know. That’s how science is supposed to work... with an exchange of new, as yet untested, ideas. Without new ideas being bandied about by other smart people, science does not move forward. Bonnie Berry, PhD, Director, Social Problems Research Group CSAC 23(1) Page 10 Featured Members Dr. Ebonie Cunningham Stringer Dr. Ebonie Cunningham Stringer recently published an article in Sociological Focus: • Cunningham Stringer, Ebonie. 2023. “Trauma Technicians and Wounded Warriors: Using a Black Feminist Lens to Understand How Black Women Clergy and Lay Leaders Resist Anti-Black State Violence.” Sociological Focus, 56:4, 371-389, https:// doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2023.2227794. Dr. Cunningham Stringer, as a Primary Investigator, was recently awarded a $1.62 million grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to establish a youth violence intervention and prevention program, a new initiative that will employ evidence-based strategies to serve youth ages 14 to 21 in Berks County, PA. In addition to establishing the program, objectives of the grant include working with community partners to identify youth who are at-risk of committing violence, as well as violence interrupters they call “peacemakers.” The multi-year grant will run through 2025. “Not One More: A Peace and Justice Project” was created to facilitate work on the grant and beyond. Stringer and Grobman are working in collaboration with Edna Garcia-DiPini, executive director of RIZE Above Bars, a nonprofit youth organization in Berks County. Stringer serves as the executive director of Not One More; Garcia-DiPini is director of programs and Grobman is director of special projects and storyprojectfacilitator. Youcanreadmoreat:https://www.psu.edu/news/berks/story/penn-state-berks- awarded-16m-grant-violence-prevention-program/. Emily Schneider Dr. Emily Schneider recently had a chapter come out in the book Settler Indigeneity in the West Bank. • Schneider, Emily. 2023. “Negotiating Indigeneity in Hebron: American Jews, Tourism, and Liberal Settler Colonialism,” in R. Feldman and I. McGonigle (eds), Settler-Indigeneity in the West Bank Montreal: McGill University Press. Dr. Mayim Katsman, one of our co-authors was killed in the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Dr. Schneider participated in the memorial lecture about the book held in Dr. Katsman’s honor on November 22, 2023. CSAC 23(1) Page 11 Featured Members Dr. Diana Therese M. Veloso was recently promoted to the rank of Associate Professor 5 at the Department of Sociology and Behavioral Sciences of De La Salle University in the Philippines. She also holds two administrative posts at her home department, as the Coordinator of the Master of Health Social Science program and the Coordinator of an interdisciplinary course called Gender and Multiculturalism. She has served as a guest lecturer for the Department of Theology and Religious Education at the said university. She served as the Chair of the Transnational Initiatives Committee of the Society for the Study of Social Problems from August 2022-August 2023. She is also a Board Member and former Secretary of the Philippine Sociological Society. She is the Web Coordinator of Ecclesia of Women in Asia, an organization of women theologians. Dr. Veloso is a Reservist with the Philippine Navy. She holds the designation of Data Processor Chief (DPC), with the rank of Chief Petty Officer (CPO)—and is the only woman CPO in her cohort. DPC Veloso completed the Basic Citizen Military Course (BCMC) conducted by the Philippine Navy Naval Reserve Command and graduated on 6 May 2023 with outstanding marks. She was a member of the adjudged Best Team in Land Navigation during the conduct of the BCMC Field Training Exercises. Dr. Veloso received an award for ten years of service at De La Salle University during the Service Awards on 30 August 2023. She was also an awardee during the Research Recognition Rites of the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the same university, held on 1 February 2023. She received a Certificate of Recognition for her journal article on the 2017 siege in the Islamic City of Marawi, located in the southern Philippines: Veloso, Diana Therese M. 2022. “Safety and Security Issues, Gender-Based Violence and Militarism in Conflict Zones: The Experiences of Internally Displaced People from Marawi City.” Frontiers in Human Dynamics: Refugees and Conflict. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2021.703193 Dr. Veloso recently published the following article: Veloso, Diana Therese M. 2023. “The Experiences of Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Women in a Time of Pandemic: Implications for Life-Giving Communities.” Acta Theologica Supplementum 35: Towards Life-Giving Communities in a Post-Pandemic World: Asian Feminist Theological Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.38140/at.v35i1 She also edited the following publication during her term as the Editor-in-Chief of the Digest, published by the Office of Strategic Studies and Strategy Affairs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines: Veloso, Diana Therese M., Ed. 2023. Digest 28(1). Dr. Veloso received a Plaque of Appreciation from the Correctional Institution for Women, a penitentiary for women in conflict with the law in the Philippines, during the opening ceremony of National Correctional Consciousness Week on 24 October 2023. The award was given in recognition of her long-term volunteer work and service for the benefit of women deprived of liberty. CSAC 23(1) Page 12 Features Have Something You Want Featured? Essays. Welcome essays from our division members on wide- ranging topics relevant for sharing with our division membership. These are short essays less than 3000 words. Review and acceptance via the newsletter editorial team. Interviews / Spotlights. I am interested in featuring the work of our division members as a part of our newsletters. I have thought one way of doing this is to conduct short interviews — on your current/past work, thoughts on our area of scholarship, insights for other scholars, spotlights on our award winners and other accomplishments. Excited to hear your ideas. Graduate Student Focused Section. I’m also interested in carving out a features sections for our graduate student members. I can see this as a place for sharing work, resources, information, and announcements. I also expect this would evolve to fit the needs of our graduate students — again, excited to hear ideas. Email me with thoughts, ideas, submissions: c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com. Essays Welcome. Have a short essay you’d might like to have in our next newsletter? Feature Your Work. 
Reach out to me if you’d like to be interviewed about your current work and have this interview summary shared in our newsletter. This can be about your research, publications, teaching, service, etc. Graduate Students. 
Let me know how our division can create spaces for you, your work, and questions. Interested in helping create this space?... Email: c.michael.awsumb@gmail.com