Solidarity to Goldsmiths Sociology Dept from an ex-Sociology teacher
As the Guardian letter below notes (9th May 2019) I started my working life in 1979 as a sociology and politics teacher (PGCE). Unfortunately Mrs Thatcher had just been elected and these days I’m possibly better known as a socialist historian (and letter writer)
The destruction of Goldsmith’s 50 year old Sociology Department by an apparently random redundancy process (and therefore potentially not in compliance with employment law) underlines a point I learnt 45 years ago. Sociology can help to explore and explain tough times so when they occur those above would rather that it did not do that
The letter ‘speaks’ for itself (or not) but in the above context a brief explanation is important.
When it comes to understanding history I’m with EP Thompson. Life is a process and a struggle not something that can be stopped at a particular moment and assessed. Thompson criticised sociologists for this method in the Making of the English Working Class. He also criticised fellow Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm for using economic statistics to understand the nature and progress of the working class, for example on their standard of living. I’m somewhere in between both valuing understanding people’s experience and trying to see how they can be summed up statistically.
• I started my working life as a sociology teacher 40 years ago in 1979. I quickly learned that it was an unpopular occupation even then and moved on. I entirely agree, however, about the importance of teaching it in schools. It presents realities the present government would prefer not to think about. Another place that appears to be lacking sociologists is the Guardian’s editorial columns. Of course there is a divide between rich and poor in Britain, and at the top level that contrast can be seen by comparing London and the rest of the country. But that is the start of the analysis, not the end of it, since there are significant divisions in London too. Average life expectancy in Tottenham is not much over 70 years, while in the most wealthy parts of Kensington it is over 90. It is not a question of London versus the rest. As many sociologists will tell you, it is a matter of class.
Keith Flett
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