Annual Meeting of The American Sociological Association

Abstract

Thi conference, which consisted of many sessions, was very well attended. Since giving a review of each session is impractical, I will discuss those points that relate to academic trategies and intellectual trends and that are relevant to Muslim academia. Organization: Social disciplines have become very diverse. Sociology, if not at the top, is no exception. Thus it seems that organizing a conference aroW1d a theme is rather limiting. This meeting, entitled "The Challenge of Democratic Participation," consisted of nine categories: plenary, thematic, regular/section session, special session, didactic seminar, open topic refereed roundtables/informal discussion roundtables, book panel/poster sessions, and professional and teaching workshops. Plenary sessions discussed subjects of national or statewide policy concerns, such as "Reconstructing the Political," or "Reflection of the 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion: Views of Community Leaders." The thematk sessions analyzed democratic participation on many levels: labor's role in democratization, trade unions, religion and institutions, governance in higher education, mass media strategies, and gender. The thirty-three special sessions focused on timely topics: pan-ethnicity in the United States; the relevance of the Black church; the politics of educational texts, health care, and the family values debate; xenophobia in Europe; fundamentalism in the Middle East; NAFTA; and federal support to social sciences ...