Harry Bash
Associate Professor Emeritus, Sociology
My teaching interests have centered largely in the areas of Sociological Theory, Sociology of Dominant and Minority Groups, Social Stratification, and Ideology & Social Movements; and they spill, as well, into Deviance and Criminology. In my research, I find myself drawn to concerns that relate to issues of conceptualization in sociology --- which readily involve me in problems of ideology as these arise in social life and as they incline to structure sociological inquiry. As a result of my grappling with such concerns through a variety of papers, I have come to adopt a Social Constructionist perspective in my analyses. These scholarly interests and orientations are well-reflected in my books (and their sub-titles): Sociology, Race and Ethnicity: A Critique of American Ideological Intrusions Upon Sociological Theory (Gordon and Breach, 1979); and Social Problems & Social Movements: An Exploration Into The Sociological Construction of Alternative Realities (Humanities Press, 1995).
Educational History
University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) Ph.D. (Sociology) 1969
Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) M.A. (Sociology) 1958
University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) A. B. (Liberal Arts ) 1951
Work History
University of Missouri – St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
Assoc. Prof. Emeritus 1992
Department Chair (acting) 1987-1989
Associate Professor 1978-Department Chair 1974-1981
Assistant Professor 1966-1978
Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)
Instructor 1964-1966
Harcum Junior College
(Bryn Mawr, PA Lecturer (and Chair) 1962-1964
University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
Instructor (part-time) 1958-1962
Professional Awards
“Outstanding Faculty of 1976-1977.” UM-St. Louis Evening College plaque.
Publications
Books:
Bash, Harry H. 1995. Social Problems & Social Movements: An Exploration Into theSociological Construction of Alternative Realities, Atlantic Highlands, NJ.: Humanities Press, (xviii + 262 pp.).
Bash, Harry H. 1979. Sociology, Race and Ethnicity: A Critique of American Ideological Intrusions Upon Sociological Theory, New York: Gordon & Breach, (xii + 252 pp.).
Articles:
Bash, Harry H. 2006. “If I’m So White Why Ain’t I Right?: Some Methodological Misgivings On Taking Identity Ascriptions At Face-Value.” Critical Sociology, Vol. 32:4, pp. 675-697.
Bash, Harry H. 2000a. “A Sense of Time: Temporality and Historicity in Sociological Inquiry.” Time & Society, Vol. 9:2/3, pp. 187-204.
Bash, Harry H. 2000b. “Dominant Group.” Pp. 326-327 in Racial and Ethnic Relations in America, Vol. I, edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Bash, Harry H. 2000c. “Racial vs. Ethnic.” Pp. 843-844 in Racial and Ethnic Relations in America, Vol. 3, edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Bash, Harry H. 1998. “A Scatter of Sociologies: Vertical Drift and the Quest for Theoretical Integration in Sociology.” Pp. 537-565 in The Living Legacy of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber: Applications and Analyses of Classical Sociological Theory By Modern Social Scientists, edited by Richard Altschuler. New York: Gordian Knot Books. (Modified and reprinted from Bash, 1989.)
Bash, Harry H. 1994. “Social Movements and Social Problems: Toward a Conceptual Rapprochement.” Pp. 247-284 in Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 17, edited by Louis Kriesberg, Michael Doblowski and Isidor Walliman. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press.
Bash, Harry H. 1989. “On Vertical Drift and the Quest for Theoretical Integration in Sociology.” Social Epistemology, Vol. 3:3, pp. 229-246.
Bash, Harry H. 1985. “Social Constructions of Relevance: Ideological Bents of Client-Friendly Sociology.” Quarterly Journal of Ideology, Vol. 9:2, pp. 1-16.
Bash, Harry H. 1984. “Sociology as Discipline and as Profession: A Sociological Scratch For Every Social Itch?” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 4:1, pp. 15-28.
Bash, Harry H. 1982. “Counterculture: Some Problems in the Quest for Sociological Theory,” Chapter Two, pp. 19-47 in Counterculture and Social Transformation: Essays on Negativistic Themes in Sociological Theory, edited by Seymour Leventman. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Bash, Harry H. 1981. “Conflict Intervention and Social Change: Sociological and Ideological Contexts of Professional Social Meddling.” Journal of Intergroup Relations, Vol. 9 (Summer), pp. 12-30.
Bash, Harry H. 1980. “Concepts and Reality Constructions: Problems of Theory and Ideology in Sociology.” Quarterly Journal of Ideology, Vol. 3:4, pp.1-6.
Bash, Harry H. 1975. “Reflections on the Future of
Social Problems Theory,” Social Problems Theory Division
Newsletter of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Vol. 5
(Fall).
Bash, Harry H. 1964. “Determinism and Avoidability in
Sociohistorical Analysis.” Ethics, Vol. 74 (April), pp.
186-200.
Bash, Harry H. 1960. “The Functional Approach in Sociology,” Graduate Journal of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1:1 (December), pp. 3-12.
Reviews:
Bash, Harry H. 1996. “Book Review: Social Movements and Social Classes.” Social Forces, Vol. 75:1 (September), pp. 356-357.
Bash, Harry H. 1974. “Review Essay: Orthodox Consensus and Radical Alternative.” Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 3:6 (November), pp. 483-487.
Professional Meetings Contributions
Paper presentation: “If I’m So White, Why Ain’t I Right?: Some Methodological Misgivings On Taking Identity Ascriptions At Face-Value,” annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, St. Louis (April, 2001).
Invited paper presentation: “You Know, It’s Unlucky to be Superstitious,” Sociology Department, University of Missouri – Columbia, (October, 1996).
Panelist: “Africans and Africans of the Diaspora as Modern Scientists,” Merramec Community College, (April, 1995).
Discussant: session on Social Problems and Classical Sociological Theory, annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, Kansas City (April, 1992).
Paper presentation: “Social Problems and Social Movements: Towards a Conceptual Reformulation,” annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, Des Moines (April, 1991).
Paper presentation: “On Leveling in Sociology: Emergence, Reduction and the Quest for Integration,” annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, Des Moines (March, 1986).
Paper presentation: “Discipline and Profession: The Social Construction of Means and Ends,” annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago (April, 1984).
Discussant: session on Law and Social Change, annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society, Minneapolis (April, 1981).
Paper presentation: “Reality Constructions: Theoretical and Ideological Impulses in theSociology of Social Problems,” annual meetings of the Illinois Sociological Association, Springfield (October, 1979).
Organizer and Presider: session on Theory, annual meetings of the Southern Sociological Society, Washington, D.C. (October, 1975).
Co-Organizer and Panelist: “What If There Were No Sociology….?” Missouri Society For Sociology and Anthropology, St. Louis (February, 1975).
Paper presentation: “Toward a Sociological Theory of Counterculture,” annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, New Orleans, (August, 1972).
Discussant: session on Race Relations Theory, annual meetings of the American Sociological Society, Los Angeles (August, 1964).
Grants
Proposal to Campus Research and Development Leave, 1991; not
funded.
Proposal to Visiting International Scholar Program, 1989-1990; not
funded.
Proposal to Collage of Arts & Sciences, $2,500; funded July,
1987.
Proposal to Weldon Spring Fund, $17,000; funded June, 1980.
Professional Activities (selected)
Associate Editor, The Sociological Quarterly, 1988 - 1992.
Managing Editor, Quarterly Journal of Ideology, 1979 - 1984; Associate
Editor 1985 -1995.
Paper Referee, American Sociological Review; The American Sociologist;
Quarterly Journal of Ideology;
Social Problems; The Sociological Quarterly.
Manuscript Consultant, Houghton Mifflin; Little, Brown; McGraw-Hill;
Moseby; Prentice-Hall; Random
House; Wadsworth.
Member, Executive Committee, Missouri Society for Sociology, 1981 -
1983.
Various local radio and television appearances; member, various topical
discussion panels.
Speaking engagements: St. Louis Police Academy, churches, schools,
civic groups, etc.
Teaching Specializations
Sociological Theory
Dominant/Minority Group Relations
Power, Ideology and Social Movements
Sociology of Knowledge
Sociology of Deviance