Social Science for Social Justice is a new book series from Sage that provides a platform for academics, journalists, and activists of color to respond to today’s pressing social issues.
The series challenges the Ivory Tower of academia – in which Black, Asian and minority ethnic voices are underrepresented – by defining the “expert” not as someone who extracts data from a community, but someone who works within and alongside communities, gives back, and amplifies voices. The series is interdisciplinary and international in scope, and provides rigorous analysis and radical thinking in clear language that is accessible to readers both within and outside of academia.
Social Science for Social Justice launched in 2022 with titles by Francesca Sobande and Tarek Younis. Four new titles are coming in December 2024.
Titles in the series
Coming in 2024
Whiteness, Racial Trauma and the University
Harshad Keval
More about the series
Our Social Science for Social Justice series reflects Sage's mission-driven approach to publishing by platforming emerging voices and enabling the dissemination of bold thinking that will inform the work of future generations of scholars and changemakers. As an independent company, we are free to support the development of social science ideas that will make impact beyond the academy by enabling the production of balanced, forward-thinking and anti-racist knowledge that contributes to a more just society.
In this post, Commissioning Editor for the Social Science for Social Justice series Delayna Spencer explains how she conceived the idea for the series as a challenge to traditional academic frameworks that have been exclusionary to people of color.
Virtual launch event:
Remodeling the Ivory Tower: Social Science for Social Justice
To mark the launch of the Social Science for Social Justice series, Sage held an online roundtable discussion between the series’ authors and editors exploring how to diversify knowledge production in an academic environment that often excludes and diminishes voices of color. The event covers discussion topics including:
How do we move beyond preconceived notions of what an academic text looks like?
How do we define “expert” and why?
What is the history and impact of gatekeeping in academic publishing?
And how do we ensure that social science knowledge has influence outside of the academy to impact communities in a meaningful way?
Catch up with the recording or read the transcript.
Series editors
Jason Arday
Jason Arday is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on race inequalities within the education sector with a specific focus racial and intersectional inequality in higher education. Areas of his work have also focused on mental health in education, cultural studies, race and politics, education policy and decolonizing the curriculum.
Meredith D. Clark
Meredith D. Clark is an associate professor in the School of Journalism & the Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern University. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, media, and power – covering everything from media processes like newsroom hiring and reporting practices to the digital narratives constructed by social media communities.