Saturday, September 30, 2006

(overheard) public sociopathy

Just now, in the Harvard Coop coffeeshop, a stranger starts talking to the two people at the next table--sociologists who have been discussing the very "heated" Duneier-Klinenberg (he-said/he-said-and-blamed-the-victim) debate in the most recent American Sociological Review:

"So, what's the difference between a sociologist and a sociopath?"
"I don't know. Is this a riddle?"
"No, I'm asking. Are all sociologists sociopaths?"
"I'm a sociologist, and I'm not a sociopath."
"Me too."
"The only sociologist I know is a sociopath."
(pause)
"Or a psychopath."
(pause)
"Here's a riddle: what's the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath?"
"What?"
"A sociopath is a psychopath having a good day, and a psychopath is a sociopath having a bad day."
(pause)
"Not that funny, I guess."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you brought this up...not the interloper, but the "heated" exchange. I thought the whole thing was bizarre, and a strange choice for ASR. Ok, so these guys obviously aren’t the best of friends...and...? I think the book, to be polite, has already received its fair share of air time, and I was kinda cheering for MD and would love to see his parry. Solution: I propose that we put the two in the ring at Madison Square Garden at the next ASA meeting. The winner must then face Loic W., who will defend his title as world champion of the ethnographic smack-down. We can kick the thing off with an exhibition grudge match between a certain outgoing editor and a certain bantam-weight Bank of Sweden prize winner. ASA Organizing Committee, are you listening?

Anonymous said...

So, what's your take on the "heated" debate?

AaronSw said...

Damn, I picked the wrong bookstore to hang out it. At mine the people were only discussing sex, not hot sociology cage matches!

Anonymous said...

So is this Duneier's thing, then? Being in "battle" in ASR every few years? Yawn.

Anonymous said...

"We can kick the thing off with an exhibition grudge match between a certain outgoing editor and a certain bantam-weight Bank of Sweden prize winner."

YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT CAUSALITY MCMAHON!?! I'LL TEACH YOU SOMETHING ABOUT CAUSALITY! YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET TO MY CAR!!!

dorotha said...

has connie read this yet?

jeremy said...

Anon 2:54: I believe the debate is actually Duneier's first appearance in ASR. You are probably referring to his exchange with Wacquant in AJS, which was an exchange initiated by Wacquant. This is the second time Duneier has initiated an exchange with Klinenberg, the first one being the outgrowth of an "Author Meets Critics" session at ASA that appeared as a symposium in Contemporary Sociology.