In my personal contact with this crowd (women’s studies, not sociology, to be clear), I’ve often been quite frustrated. When approached in a reasonable manner, at least those I’ve encountered have been reasonable in return, willing to seriously discuss problems and alternative theories. But in their public statements and publications they go to great lengths to avoid expressing any doubt or disagreement with one another or with the orthodoxy in the field. I suppose they feel solidarity is necessary in the face of outside threats, and I’m not unaware that they do in fact face outside threats, but this still seems to me like a problem.
In my personal contact with this crowd (women’s studies, not sociology, to be clear), I’ve often been quite frustrated. When approached in a reasonable manner, at least those I’ve encountered have been reasonable in return, willing to seriously discuss problems and alternative theories. But in their public statements and publications they go to great lengths to avoid expressing any doubt or disagreement with one another or with the orthodoxy in the field. I suppose they feel solidarity is necessary in the face of outside threats, and I’m not unaware that they do in fact face outside threats, but this still seems to me like a problem.