This handbook articulates how sociology can re-engage its roots as the scientific study of human moral systems, actions, and interpretation. This second volume builds on the successful original volume published in 2010, which contributed tothe initiation of a new section of the American Sociological Association ASA), thus growing the field. This volume takes sociology back to its roots over a century ago, when morality was a central topic of work and governance. It engages scholars from across subfields in sociology, representing each section of the ASA, who contribute to how their subfield connects to research on morality.

This reference work appeals to broader readership than was envisaged for the first volume, as the relationship between sociology as a discipline and its origins in questions of morality is further renewed. The volume editors focus on three areas: the current state of the sociology of morality across a range of sociological subfields; taking a new look at some of the issues discussed in the first handbook, which are relevant in sometimes completely new contexts; and reflecting on where the sociology of morality should go next.

This is a must-read reference for students and scholars interested in topics of morality, ethics, altruism, religion, and spirituality from across the social science.

Steve Hitlin is Professor of Sociology & Criminology at the University of Iowa. He is the co-author of Unequal Foundations (2018, Oxford), co-author of the forthcoming The Science of Dignity (Oxford) and a co-editor of the Handbook of the Sociology of Morality, Vol. 1 (2010). His work has appeared in a variety of journals across social science, including the American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Social Psychology Quarterly, Child Development, Social Forces and Social Science Review. He publishes on morality, values, agency, identity, dignity, and other hard-to-define concepts.

Shai M. Dromi is Associate Senior Lecturer on Sociology at Harvard University. He is the author of Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2020) and Moral Minefields: How Sociologists Debate Good Science (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2023, co-authored with Samuel D. Stabler). His work has appeared in journals such as Theory & Society, Sociological Theory, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and Rural Sociology. He publishes on religion, humanitarian aid, morality, organizations, and social knowledge production.

Aliza Luft is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently completing a book, Sacred Treason: Race, Religion, and The Holocaust in France, under contract with Harvard University Press. Other work has appeared in journals such as Sociological Theory, Sociology Compass, European Journal of Sociology, Qualitative Sociology, and Political Power and Social Theory. She also regularly contributes to public sociology in venues such as The Washington Post; New Yorker; LA Times; NY Times; and elsewhere. Her research examines the fluctuating relationships between social identity, ideology, and interpersonal, socio-political action in contexts marked by war and violence.

Handbook of the Sociology of Morality, vol. 2

Table of Contents

Preface: Toward an Expansive and Inclusive Sociology of Morality

Michèle Lamont, Harvard University

Introduction: The sociology of morality: Looking around, looking back, and looking forward

Shai M. Dromi, Harvard University

Steven Hitlin, University of Iowa

Aliza Luft, University of California - Los Angeles

Part 1: Defining and conceptualizing morality

Lembo, Alessandra (Univ. of Chicago)

Ma, Xiangyu (Univ. of Chicago)

Martin, John Levi (Univ. of Chicago)

Chapter 2: Is There Such a Thing as Moral Phenomenon, or Should We Be Looking at the Moral Dimension of Phenomena

Werneck, Alexandre (Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro)

Part 2: Organizations, Organizational Culture, and Morality

Chapter 3: Where Law and Morality Meet: Moral Agency and Moral Deskilling in Organizations

Heimer, Carol A. (American Bar Foundation & Northwestern Univ.)

Chapter 4: The Darker Side of Strong Organizational Cultures: Looking Forward by Looking Back

Anteby, Michel (Boston Univ.)

Rajunov, Micah (Boston Univ.)

Part 3: Embodiment, Emotions, and Morality

Chapter 5: The Structure, Culture, and Biology: Driving Moralization of the Human Universe

Turner, Jonathan H. (UCR and UCSB)

Chapter 6: Missing Emotions in the Sociology of Morality

Jasper, James M. (CUNY Graduate Center)

Chapter 7: Sociology, Embodiment and Morality: A Durkheimian Perspective

Mellor, Philip A. (Univ. of Leeds)

Shilling, Chris (University of Kent)

Chapter 8: Physiological Rhythms and Entrainment Niches: Morality as Interpersonal Music

McCaffree, Kevin (Univ. of North Texas)

Chapter 9: Grounding Oughtness: Morality of Coordination, Immorality of Disruption

Stolz, Dustin S. (Lehigh University)

Wood, Michael Lee (Brigham Young Univ.)

Part 4: Morality and the Life Cycle

Chapter 10: The Sociology of Children and Youth Morality

Abrutyn, Seth (Univ. of British Columbia)

Goldman-Hasbun, Julia (Univ. of British Columbia)

Chapter 11: Aging and Morality

Carr, Deborah (Boston Univ.)

Avni, Elinore (Boston Univ.)

Part 5: Moral Decision-Making, Mobilization, and Helping Behavior

Chapter 12: The Moral Identity in Sociology

Stets, Jan (UC Riverside)

Chapter 13: Morality and Relationships, Real and Imagined

Polletta, Francesca (UC Irvine)

Chapter 14: Altruism, Morality, and The Morality of Altruism

Chapter 15: Prosocial decision-making among groups and individuals: A social-psychological approach

Harrell, Ashley (Duke Univ.)

Chapter 16: Moral Decision-Making Processes in their Organizational, Institutional, and Historical Contexts

Kucinskas, Jaime (Hamilton College)

Chapter 17: Examining Moral Decision-Making During Genocide: Rescue in the Case of 1994 Rwanda

Wise, Jamie D. (George Mason Univ.)

Nzitatira, Hollie Nyseth (Ohio State Univ.)

Fox, Nicole (Cal. State Univ. Sacramento)

Part 6: Nature, Culture, and Morality

Chapter 18: The Influence of the Nature-Culture Dualism on Morality

Bryant, Jesse Callahan (Yale Univ.)

Farrel, Justin (Yale Univ.)

Chapter 19: Animals and Society

Chiles, Robert (Penn State)

Mendel, Catherine (Penn State)

Part 7: Culture, Historical Sociology, and Morality

Chapter 20: Culture, Morality, and the Matter of Facts

Norton, Matthew (Univ. of Oregon)

Bargheer, Stefan (Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies)

Chapter 22: History of the Present: Assessing Morality Across Temporalities

Pugh, Cresa (New School)

Chapter 23: Social Justice as a Field

Part 8: Class, Inequality, and Morality

¬Chapter 24: What Sort of Social Inequality Matters for Democracy? Relations and Distributions

Wehrwein, Zachary R. (Harvard Univ.)

Winship, Christopher (Harvard Univ.)

Chapter 25: Slippery Subjects: The Moral Politics of Studying Up

Inglis, Patrick (Ibero American University, Mexico City)

Chapter 26: Morality, Inequality, and the Power of Categories

Spillman, Lyn (Univ. of Notre Dame)

Chapter 27: Civic Morality: Democracy and Social Good

Herzog, Patricia Snell (Indiana Univ. Lilly Family School of Philanthropy)

Chapter 28: Bridging the Sociologies of Morality and Migration: The Moral Underpinnings of Borders, Policies, and Immigrants

Yazdiha, Hajar (USC)

Chapter 29: Cultural Threat and Market Failure: Moral Decline Narratives on the Religious Right and Left

Delehanty, Jack (Clark Univ.)

Chapter 30: Morality and Civil Society

Xu, Bin (Emory Univ.)

Part 10: Looking Ahead: New Frontiers in the Sociology of Morality

Chapter 31: Understanding Morality in a Racialized Society

Robinson, Candice C. (University of North Carolina Wilmington)

Rosino, Michael (Molloy College)

Chapter 32: Leaving the Sequestered Byway: A Forward Look at Sociology's Morals and Practical Problem-Solving

Quinn, Kaitlyn (University of Missouri-St Louis)

Schneiderhan, Erik (Univ. of Toronto)