The British Sociological Association (BSA) is a scholarly and professional society for sociologists in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1951, the BSA is the national subject association for sociology in the UK. It publishes the academic journals Sociology, Work, Employment and Society, Sociological Research Online and Cultural Sociology (with SAGE Publications) as well as its membership magazine Network and a monthly eNewsletter.
History Prior to the foundation of the British Sociological Association, other societies and organisations relevant to social sciences existed in the UK. These included the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1833), which became the Royal Statistical Society, and the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science (1857).Platt, J. (2014). A Sociological History of the British Sociological Association. sociologypress. pp.4-6
Victor Branford originated the idea of founding a British Sociological Society, aiming to use it as a vehicle to promote the ideas of Patrick Geddes.Platt, J. (2014). A Sociological History of the British Sociological Association. sociologypress. pg.8Scott, J., & Husbands, C. T. (2007). Victor Branford and the building of British sociology. The Sociological Review, 55(3), 460-484. This led to the founding of The Sociological Society in 1903. The faction of the society concerned with supporting eugenics broke off to form The Eugenics Society in 1907.Platt, J. (2014). A Sociological History of the British Sociological Association. sociologypress. pg.9
In 1907–8, a group formed within The Sociological Society which focussed on geography and urban planning.Platt, J. (2014). A Sociological History of the British Sociological Association. sociologypress. pg.10 Several years later, the British Medical Association had developed a medical sociology section by 1913, this primarily concerned itself with eugenics and disease hereditability. The Sociological Society eventually reformed into The Institute of Sociology.
Founding and early years The British Sociological Association initially grew out of activities at the London School of Economics, which had produced the first posts in sociology in the United Kingdom in 1907 and become a significant hub of activity.Platt, J. (2002). The history of the British sociological association. International sociology, 17(2), 179-198.
On May 16, 1951, The Times newspaper published a letter which announced the founding of the British Sociological Association.Banks, J. A. (1967). The British Sociological Association—The First Fifteen Years. Sociology, 1(1). pg .1. The signatories to this letter wrote that:
The signatories to this first letter announcing the founding of the association were: Alexander Carr-Saunders, David Glass, V. Gordon Childe, Raymond Firth, M. Fortes, Morris Ginsberg, T. H. Marshall, T. H. Pear, W. J. H. Sprott, T. S. Simey, Richard Titmuss, Barbara Wootton, and R. J Goodman.Banks, J. A. (1967). The British Sociological Association—The First Fifteen Years. Sociology, 1(1). pp.1-2
The London School of Economics allocated office space to the running of the British Sociological Association in addition to secretarial support.Platt, J. (2002). The history of the British Sociological Association. International sociology, 17(2), 179-198. In these early years, the British Sociological Association received funding from the Nuffield Foundation.
By the end of 1951, the British Sociological Association had a membership of approximately 500 - with just 35% employed in universities.Platt, J. (2002). The history of the British Sociological Association. International sociology, 17(2), p.182. Early membership primarily reflected the organisation's anchoring in London, with 60% of the 1958 membership based in London. Early on, the executive frequently involved members from allied-disciplines such as social anthropology. For example, John Barnes, J. C. Mitchell, Peter Worsley each began their careers as anthropologists and all went on to hold positions as BSA president or be the holder of a major chair.Calhoun, C. (1987). History and Sociology in Britain. A review article. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 29(3), pg.617. In Craig Calhoun's opinion, this reflected an inversion of the contemporaneous US dynamic where anthropology departments were "under the domination of larger, more powerful sociology departments".
During the mid-century period, the association's approach to sociology was entangled with the development of the welfare state - many of the BSA's early members were actively involved as advisors during the growth of the welfare state.Platt, J. (2002). The history of the British Sociological Association. International sociology, 17(2), p.183.
The British Sociological Association held its first conference at Queen Elizabeth College (then part of the University of London) from 27 to 29 March 1953.Marshall, T. H. (1953). Conference of the British Sociological Association, 1953. I Impressions of the Conference. The British Journal of Sociology, 4(3), 201-209. The theme of this first conference was 'Social Policy and the Social Sciences'. It was attended by 233 people, of whom 125 were association members. The Scottish branch of the British Sociological Association held its first working conference in Edinburgh in February 1955.'Sociologists In Conference - First Scots Gathering'. The Glasgow Herald. 21 Feb 1955. p.3 The conference was chaired by Edinburgh University's Kenneth Little.
Organisation The British Sociological Association contains several subgroups. The medical sociology group was founded in 1969. According to the BSA, the medical sociology group "promotes scholarship and communication in the field of the sociology of health and illness" and is "one of the largest and most active study groups of the BSA"
Administration and governance The BSA is a registered charitable company (charity no: 1080235). The activities of the BSA are overseen by the board of trustees which is the decision-making body responsible for setting and implementing strategy. An Advisory Forum, including representatives from all of the constituencies within the Association and the BSA President, provides a two-way channel for information exchange between the members of the Association and the Trustees. An office of 10 staff members takes care of the day-to-day running of the Association.
Presidents Rachel Brooks 2024– Gurminder K. Bhambra 2022–2023 Susan Halford, 2018–2021 Lynn Jamieson, 2014–2018 John Holmwood, 2012–2014 John Brewer, 2009–2012 Sue Scott, 2007–2009 Geoff Payne, 2005–2007 Joan Busfield, 2003–2005 John Scott, 2001–2003 Sara Arber, 1999–2001 David Morgan, 1997–1999 Stuart Hall, 1995–1997 Michèle Barrett, 1993–1995 John Westergaard, 1991–1993 Sir Robert Burgess, 1989–1991 Jennifer Platt, 1987–1989 Martin Albrow, 1985–1987 Richard Brown, 1983–1985 Margaret Stacey, 1981–1983 John Eldridge, 1979–1981 Keith Kelsall, 1977–1979 Sheila Allen, 1975–1977 Peter Worsley, 1971–1975 Tom Bottomore, 1969–1971 T. H. Marshall, 1964–1969 Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, 1959–1964 Morris Ginsberg, 1955–1957
Publications Academic journals The BSA publishes Sociology, Work, Employment and Society, Cultural Sociology, and Sociological Research Online.
Network magazine The Association publishes a magazine, Network, for its members three times a year, Spring, Summer and Autumn.
Awards Philip Abrams Memorial Prize The Philip Abrams Memorial Prize has been awarded almost every year since 1989 for "the best first and sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology". The prize is named for professor Philip Abrams (1933–1981). Past winners include:
Barbara Adam (1991, for Time and Social Theory) Bridget Anderson (2001, for Doing the Dirty Work? The Global Politics of Domestic Labour) Graeme Kirkpatrick (2005, for Critical Technology: A Social Theory of Personal Computing) Gurminder K Bhambra (2008, for Rethinking Modernity: Postcolonialism and the Sociological Imagination) Rhoda Wilkie (2011, for Livestock/Deadstock) Monika Krause (2015, for The Good Project: Humanitarian Relief NGOs and the Fragmentation of Reason) Maddie Breeze (2016, for Seriousness and Women's Roller Derby: Gender, Organization and Ambivalence). Paul Ian Campbell (2017, for Football, Ethnicity and Community: The Life of An African-Caribbean Football Club) Lucy Mayblin (2018, for After Empire: Colonial Legacies in the Politics of Asylum Seekers) Remy Joseph-Salisbury (2019, for Black Mixed-Race Men: Transatlanticity, Hybridity and 'Post-Racial' Resilience Anna Bull (2020, for Class Control and Classical Music) Luke de Noronha (2021, for Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica) Natasha Carver (2022, for Marriage, Gender and Refugee Migration: Spousal Relationships among Somali Muslims in the United Kingdom) Christoph Wu (2023, for Central Banks in Organizational Networks: Entangled Market Actors) Sarah Kunz (2024, Expatriate: Following A Migration Category) Billy Holzberg (2025, Affective Bordering: Race, Deservingness and the Emotional Politics of Migration Control)
References
External links British Sociological Association web site at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics Catalogue of the BSA Medical Sociology Group archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick