The Hughesian Legacy: William Shaffir-A Principal Interpreter of the Chicago School Diaspora in Canada

• Authors: Jacqueline Low
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this paper, I discuss the invaluable role played by William Shaffir, my mentor and doc­toral supervisor, who shaped my approach to interpretive fieldwork and deepened my understanding of symbolic interactionist theory. Known affectionately as Billy to his colleagues and students, Shaffir is a gifted educator and one of the finest ethnographic researchers of his generation. My focus is on how the scholarly tradition that flows from Georg Simmel through Robert Park, Herbert Blumer, and Everett C. Hughes, passed from Billy on to me, is illustrative of what Low and Bowden (2013) conceptualize as the Chicago School Diaspora. This concept does not refer to the scattering of a people, but rather to how key ideas and symbolic representations of key figures associated with the Chicago School have been tak­en up by those who themselves are not directly affiliated with the University of Chicago. In this regard, while not a key figure of the Chicago School himself, Shaffir stands at the boundary between the Chica­go School of sociology and scholars with no official relationship to the School. As such he is a principal interpreter of the Chicago School Diaspora in Canadian Sociology.

Keywords

EN

Herbert Blumer; George Herbert Mead; Georg Simmel; Everett C. Hughes; William Shaffir; Symbolic Interactionism; Fieldwork Method; The Chicago School; The Chicago School Diaspora

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Qualitative Sociology Review
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 14-26

Dates

published

2020-04-30

Contributors

author

Jacqueline Low

• University of New Brunswick, Canada

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0336-426X

References

• Becker, Herbert and David Riesman. 2017. “Introduction to the Transaction Issue.” Pp. v-xiv in The Sociological Eye (Social Science Classics Series), by E. C. Hughes. New York: Routledge Press.
• Blumer, Herbert. 1969a. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Blumer, Herbert. 1969b. “Fashion: From Class Differentiation to Collective Selection.” Sociological Quarterly 10:275-291.
• Blumer, Herbert. 1980. “Mead and Blumer: The Convergent Methodological Perspectives of Social Behaviorism and Symbolic Interactionism.” American Sociological Review 45:409-419
• Brym, Robert, William Shaffir, and Morton Weinfeld (eds.). 1993. The Jews in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
• Bulmer, Martin. 2017. “Robert Park’s Journey into Sociology.” Pp. 37-49 in The Anthem Companion to Robert Park, edited by P. Kivisto. London: Anthem Press.
• Campbell, Douglas F. and Oswald Hall. 1989. “Review Symposium: Sociologists Examine a Historian’s Account of the Development of Social Research at McGill.” Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 26(2):333-335.
• Chapoulie, Jean-Michel. 1996. “Everett Hughes and the Chicago Tradition.” Sociological Theory 14(1):3-29.
• Chapoulie, Jean-Michel. 2016. “Everett Hughes and the Chicago Tradition.” Pp. 39-69 in The Anthem Companion to Everett C. Hughes, edited by R. Helms-Hayes and M. Santoro. London: Anthem Press.
• Chekki, Dan A. 1987. American Sociological Hegemony: Transnational Explorations. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
• Corbin, Juliet M. and Anselm L. Strauss. 1990. “Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons, and Evaluative Criteria.” Qualitative Sociology 13(1):3-21.
• Davis, Fred. 1961. “Deviance Disavowal: The Management of Strained Interaction by the Visibly Handicapped.” Social Problems 9:120-140.
• Dietz, Mary Lorenz, Robert Prus, and William Shaffir (eds.). 1994. Doing Everyday Life: Ethnography as Human Lived Experience. Toronto: Copp Clark Longman.
• Drysdale, John and Susan Hoecker-Drysdale. 2013. “The History of Sociology: The North American Perspective.” Pp. 28-44 in 21st Century Sociology, edited by C. D. Bryant and D. L. Peck. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Haas, Jack and William Shaffir. 1978. Shaping Identity in Canadian Society. Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall.
• Haas, Jack and William Shaffir. 1987. Becoming Doctors: The Adoption of a Cloak of Competence. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
• Heath, Christian. 1984. “Everett Cherrington Hughes (1897-1983): A Note on His Approach and Influence.” Sociology of Health and Illness 6(2):218-237.
• Helmes-Hayes, Richard C. 1998. “Everett Hughes: Theorist of the Second Chicago School.” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Sociology 11(4):621-643.
• Hoecker-Drysdale, Susan. 1996. “The Careers of Helen MacGill Hughes and Everett Cherrington Hughes.” Pp. 220-231 in Creative Couples in the Sciences, edited by H. M. Pycior, N. G. Slack, and P. G. Abir-Am. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
• Hughes, Everett C. 1943. French Canada in Transition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Hughes, Everett C. 1945. “Dilemmas and Contradictions of Status.” American Journal of Sociology 50(5):353-359.
• Hughes, Everett C. 1961. “Introduction: The Place of Fieldwork in the Social Sciences.” Pp. v-xiv in Fieldwork: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by B. H. Junker. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
• Levine, Donald N. (ed.). 1988. Georg Simmel: On Individuality and Social Forms. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
• Lofland, Lyn. H. 1983. “Understanding Urban Life: The Chicago Legacy.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 11(4):491-511.
• Low, Jacqueline. 1996. “Negotiating Identities, Negotiating Environments: An Interpretation of the Experiences of Students with Disabilities.” Disability and Society 11(2):235-248.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2000. “Managing Stigma via Retrospective Reinterpretation: An Analysis of Individuals’ Accounts of Why They Use Alternative Therapies.” Paper presented at the BSA Medical Sociology Group and the European Society of Health & Medical Sociology Association Joint Conference. September 14-17, York, UK.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2004. Using Alternative Therapies: A Qualitative Analysis. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2005. “Avoiding the Other: A Technique of Stigma Management among People Who Use Alternative Therapies.” Pp. 273-285 in Doing Ethnography: Researching Everyday Life, edited by D. Pawluch, W. Shaffir, and C. Miall. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2007. “Avoiding Secondary Deviance: Modes of Stigma Management among Users of Alternative and Complementary Therapies.” Paper presented at the Society for the Study of Social Problems 57th Annual Meeting Research Matters: Creating Knowledge, Policy, and Justice. August 10-12, New York, US.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2008. “Structure, Agency, and Social Reality in Blumerian Symbolic Interactionism: The Influence of Georg Simmel.” Symbolic Interaction 31(3):325-343.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2015. “Seniors Accounts of Ability and Inability.” Paper presented at the Brown Bag Talk Series. January 19, Department of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2017. “Whither Symbolic Interactionism in Canada? A Response to Helmes-Hayes and Milne’s ‘The Institutionalization of Symbolic Interactionism in Canadian Sociology.’” Canadian Journal of Sociology 42(2):197-202.
• Low, Jacqueline. 2018. “Symbolic Interactionism in Canada: Shared Meaning and the Perpetuation of Ideas.” Symbolic Interaction 42(3):468-481.
• Low, Jacqueline and Gary Bowden (eds.). 2013. The Chicago School Diaspora: Epistemology and Substance. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.
• Low, Jacqueline and Gary Bowden. 2016. “Everett C. Hughes: A Key Figure of the Chicago School Diaspora.” Pp. 115-131 in The Anthem Companion to Everett C. Hughes, edited by R. HelmsHayes and M. Santoro. London: Anthem Press.
• Maines, David R. and Tom J. Morrione. 1991. “Social Causation and Interpretive Processes: Herbert Blumer’s Theory of Industrialization and Social Change.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 4(4):535-547.
• Maines, David R., William Shaffir, and Alan Turowetz. 1980. “Leaving the Field in Ethnographic Research.” Pp. 261-280 in Fieldwork Experience: Qualitative Approaches to Social Research, edited by W. Shaffir, R. A. Stebbins, and A. Turowetz. New York: St Martin’s Press.
• Manning, Geraldine A. 2000. “Everett Cherrington Hughes: Sociologist and Mentor Sui Generis.” The American Sociologist Winter:93-99.
• McGill. 2019. “Our History, McGill University Sociology Website.” Retrieved March 04, 2019 https://www.mcgill.ca/sociology/aboutus
• McKinney, John C. 1966. Constructive Typology and Social Theory. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• McLaughlin, Neil. 2017. “Movements, Sects and Letting Go of Symbolic Interactionism.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 42(3):203-209.
• Mead, George H. 1962. Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Ostow, Robin 1984. “Everett Hughes: The McGill Years.” Society-Société 8:3:12-16.
• Park, Robert E. 1915. “The City: Suggestions for the Investigation of Human Behavior in the City Environment.” American Journal of Sociology 20(5):577-612.
• Park, Robert E. 1936. “Human Ecology.” American Journal of Sociology 42(1):1-15.
• Pawluch, Dorothy, William Shaffir, and Charlene Miall (eds.). 2005. Doing Ethnography: Studying Everyday Life. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
• Riesman, David. 1983. “The Legacy of Everett C Hughes.” Contemporary Sociology 12(5):447-481.
• Rock, Paul. 1979. The Making of Symbolic Interactionism. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Scott, Robert A. 1969. The Making of Blind Men. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Shaffir, William. 1969. “The Montreal Chassidic Community: Community Boundaries and the Maintenance of Ethnic Identity.” Master’s Thesis, Department of Sociology, McGill University, Montreal. Retrieved April 13, 2019 http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&current_base=GEN01& objectid=155954
• Shaffir, William. 1972. “Life in an Urban Chassidic Community: Insulation and Proselytization.” PhD Dissertation, Department of Sociology, McGill University, Montreal. Retrieved April 13, 2019 http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&current_base=GEN01& objectid=155954
• Shaffir, William. 1991. “Managing a Successful Self-Presentation: Some Personal Reflections on Entering the Field.” Pp. 72-81 in Experiencing Fieldwork: An Inside View of Qualitative Research, edited by W. B. Shaffir and R. A. Stebbins. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
• Shaffir, William. 1999. “Doing Ethnography: Reflections on Finding Your Way.” Journal of Cotemporary Ethnography 28(6):676-686.
• Shaffir, William. 2000. “Movements In and Out of Orthodox Judaism: The Cases of Penitents and the Disaffected.” Pp. 269-285 in Joining and Leaving Religion: Research Perspectives, edited by L. J. Francis and Y. J. Katz. Trowbridge, Waltshire: Gracewing.
• Shaffir, William. 2001. “Fieldwork among Hassidic Jews: Moral Challenges and Missed Opportunities.” The Jewish Journal of Sociology 43(1&2):53-69.
• Shaffir, William. 2002. “Outremont’s Hassidim and Their Neighbours: An Eruv and Its Repercussions.” The Jewish Journal of Sociology 44(1&2):56-71.
• Shaffir, William. 2004. “Secular Studies in a Hassidic Enclave: ‘What Do We Need It For?’” The Jewish Journal of Sociology 46(1&2):59-77.
• Shaffir, William. 2017. Qualitatives Methods, SOCIOL 742, Course Outline, Department of Sociology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
• Shaffir, William and Mordechai Bar-Lev (eds.). 1997. Leaving Religion and Religious Life. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
• Shaffir, William and Dorothy Pawluch. 2003. “Occupations and Professions.” Pp. 893-913 in Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism, edited by L. T. Reynolds and N. J. Herman-Kinney. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
• Shaffir, William and Robert Stebbins (eds.). 1991. Experiencing Fieldwork: An Inside View of Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
• Shaffir, William and Robert Stebbins. 2003. “Introduction to Fieldwork.” Pp. 2-16 in Qualitative Approaches to Criminal Justice: Perspectives from the Field, edited by M. R. Pogrebin. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Shaffir, William, Mary Lorenz Dietz, and Robert Stebbins. 1994. “Field Research as Social Experience: Learning to do Ethnography.” Pp. 30-54 in Doing Everyday Life: Ethnography as Human Lived Experience, edited by M. L. Dietz, R. Prus, and W. Shaffir. Toronto: Copp Clark Longman.
• Shaffir, William, Michael Rosenberg, and Jack Haas. 2004. “Socialization.” Pp. 79-103 in New Society, 4th edition, edited by R. Brym. Toronto: Harcourt Brace.
• Shaffir, William, Robert A. Stebbins, and Alan Turowetz (eds.). 1980. Fieldwork Experience: Qualitative Approaches to Social Research. New York: St Martin’s Press.
• Shore, Marlene. 1987. The Science of Social Redemption: McGill, the Chicago School, and the Origins of Social Research in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Simmel, Georg and Everett C. Hughes. 1949. “The Sociology of Sociability.” The American Journal of Sociology 55(3):254-261.
• Smith, Greg. 2017. “Georg Simmel: Interactionist before Symbolic Interactionism.” Pp. 41-70 in The Interactionist Imagination, edited by M. H. Jacobsen. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Thomas, William I. 1923. The Unadjusted Girl. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.
• University of Chicago. 2019. “The University of Chicago Centennial Catalogues, The University of Chicago Faculty: A Centennial View.” Retrieved April 13, 2019 https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/projects/centcat/fac/facch17_01.html
• Vienne, Phillippe. 2010. “The Enigma of the Total Institution: Rethinking the Hughes-Goffman Intellectual Relationship.” Sociologica 2:1-30.
• Vienne, Phillippe. 2016. “The Natural History of Everett Cherrington Hughes: A Master of Fieldwork.” Pp. 93-114 in The Anthem Companion to Everett Hughes, edited by R. HelmesHayes and M. Santoro. London: Anthem Press.
• Warren, Roland L. 1963. The Community in America. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.
• Weiss, Robert S. 1996. “Remembrance of Everett Hughes.” Qualitative Sociology 19(4):543-551.
• Wolff, Kurt H. (ed. & trans.). 1964. The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: The Free Press.

Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/1733-8077.16.2.02