The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded as the American Sociological Society by fifty people at Johns Hopkins University in December 1905, the first president was Lester Frank Ward. Today, most members work in academia, while about 20 percent work in government, business, or non-profit organizations. ASA publishes ten academic journals and magazines, including the American Sociological Review and Contexts, and four section journals. In 2025, the organization had 9,433 members, making it a larger association of sociologists than the International Sociological Association. The ASA is composed of researchers, students, college and university faculty, high school faculty, and practitioners.
Founding and first century In the United States, sociology was first taught as a college-level course at either Yale University in 1875 or at Indiana University in 1885.Sica, A. (2017). The History of Sociology in the United States. In K. O. Korgen (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Sociology: Core Areas in Sociology and the Development of the Discipline (pp. 5–17). chapter, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The country's first sociology department was established at the University of Kansas in 1889, with the first sociology graduate program established at the University of Chicago in 1892. The American Journal of Sociology became America's first explicitly sociological journal when it was founded at the University of Chicago in 1894.
At first, American sociology was strongly influenced by European thought. German social science was particularly influential at this time. Early figures in American sociology, such as Albion Small, Edward A. Ross, and Frank Wilson Blackmar became involved in an effort to distinguish American sociology from activities in Europe. Founding
In the summer of 1905, George Washington University professor C. W. A. Veditz began a discussion among sociologists throughout the United States, writing to several dozen people to gauge the need for or interest in forming a sociological organization."About ASA." American Sociological Association. Retrieved on 31 March 2020. Sociologists debated whether there was a need for a separate organization from the American Economic Association, American Political Science Association and the American Historical Association, which most sociologists at the time were members of. Ultimately, a consensus was reached that the time had come for a society of sociologists in the U.S.
In early December, Veditz and eight others wrote to about 300 people inviting them to a special session during the American Economic Association (AEA) and American Political Science Association meetings later that month to discuss the potential formation of a sociological society. On December 27, approximately 50 people, including one woman, gathered in McCoy Hall at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, the group motioned to form a new society of sociologists. There was debate as to integrating this new society with an existing organization, such as the AEA. The group ultimately decided that the new society ought to be an independent entity.
At the end of the day of the initial meeting, those gathered at the meeting formed a five-person committee to develop a plan for the new society and how it should be governed. The committee members would re-convene the next afternoon to review the proposed structure of the society. Council members would include Edward A. Ross, W.F. Wilcox, Albion Small, Samuel Lindsay, D. C. Wells, and William Davenport. Lester Frank Ward was elected president, William Graham Sumner as first vice president, Franklin Giddings as second vice president, and C.W.A. Veditz as secretary and treasurer. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was also a charter member of the society.Johnson, D. P. (2008). Contemporary sociological theory: An integrated multi-level approach. New York, NY: Springer New York. pg.69-70 When the committee left Baltimore, the American Sociological Society was established. A constitution had been adopted, officers were elected, and plans were made for the second annual meeting of the new society.
First century In 1917, George E. Vincent gave a presidential address titled "Countryside and Nation" which addressed economic and social conditions surrounding American agriculture.Martindale, D. (1976). American Sociology Before World War II. Annual Review of Sociology, 2, 121–143. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2946089 Vincent's address has since been highlighted as a foundational moment for rural sociology.
According to Don Martindale, the Midwest exerted a strong influence over early American sociology. By the middle of the 20th century, more than half of the presidents of the American Sociological Society were University of Chicago graduates. The perceived domination of Chicago sociologists in the society and at the American Journal of Sociology prompted some society members to believe that they held "an undue influence in the affairs of the Society".Faris, R. E. L. 1970. Chicago Sociology 1920-1932. Chicago: University of Chicago Press In 1935, this led to an annual meeting with "a distinctively anti-Chicago character". A coordinated effort among those resistant to the Chicago influence, involving what Faris called "behind-the-scenes politicking", led to the election of a non-Chicago secretary and the establishment of the American Sociological Review.
In 1953, during the annual meeting in Berkeley, California, each of the (living) past presidents of the society composed a voice recording to address the coming generation of sociologists."A 1953 Recording of the American Sociological Society Past Presidents." American Sociological Association. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
In 1981, in celebration of the association's 75th anniversary, Lawrence J. Rhoades prepared a 90-page publication entitled A History of the American Sociological Association, 1905–1980, commonly referred to as the "1981 Rhoades History". The publication provides a brief overview of the founding and early years of the association, as well as highlights of key activities and events in the decades since."History." American Sociological Association, The ASA Story. Retrieved on 31 March 2020.
In 2005, in celebration of the association's 100th anniversary, ASA published a 201-page book entitled A History of the American Sociological Association, 1981–2004. The publication picks up where the 1981 Rhoades history concludes, continuing the story and capturing the association's history from 1981 through 2004. It was the culmination of over two years of detailed research by Katherine J. Rosich.
Recent events ASA membership peaked at almost 15,000 in 2007 before declining to its current level below 10,000. The trend led to the formation of a Task Force on Membership in 2016, with recommendations released in 2019, addressing issues of community, cost, and value.
In early 2010, ASA publicly expressed outrage over a controversy involving Frances Fox Piven and Glenn Beck, asking Fox News to stop Beck's comments.American Sociological Association: ASA Officers Respond to Attacks on Frances Fox Piven. January 24, 2011. An article written by Piven concerning mobilization of unemployed individuals had spurred the commentary by Beck. ASA suggests in their public statements that the line should be drawn at name calling and that political commentators should instead rely on gathering evidence related to the topics and then drawing the proper conclusions.
Within the environmental sociology section of the ASA, in 2016 an ad hoc Committee on Racial Equity investigated racial and ethnic diversity within the section in response to critique that the section was overwhelmingly white. Their assessment of the professional climate for scholars of colour concluded that the section was a 'white space' characterized by the overwhelming presence of whites and dominated by white leadership. They concluded that this situation acts as a barrier to inclusion of people of colour in the field, and that the field of environmental justice was likewise marginalised.
Position on Palestine and Israel From 2023 to 2024, in response to the war in Gaza, sociologists organized to request that the American Sociological Association establish a stance calling for a ceasefire and pursuing divestment from arms. In December 2023, a letter signed by 125 sociologists including six former ASA presidents, asked for a statement in support of ceasefire. In February 2024, the association released a statement focusing on "deep concern and dismay regarding the loss of civilian lives in the context of continued violence in Gaza and Israel as well as other contexts of conflict and suffering unfolding across the globe." In March 2024, ASA rejected a resolution forwarded by a group known as Sociologists for Palestine which called for "an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza". After this initial resolution was rejected, enough signatures were collected to support a ballot initiative calling for a ceasefire and divestment from military technologies, however the ASA council edited the request for divestment from the resolution claiming that investment represented an "operational issue" which members could not vote on. The Sociologists for Palestine group responded to this by declaring that the council's removal of the divestment request from the resolution was "fundamentally undemocratic". In May 2024, 59% of voting ASA members approved the Resolution for Justice in Palestine and it was adopted. Beyond calling for "an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza", the adopted resolution specifies that the association "supports members' academic freedom, including but not limited to defending scholars' right to speak out against Zionist occupation."
In March 2026, Sociologists for Palestine submitted a petition for ASA members to vote on the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This would involve preventing Israeli academic institutions from advertising jobs and announcements via the ASA and subscribing to its journals. They boycott would also involve the ASA not advertising study-abroad or research opportunities in collaboration with Israeli institutions. The petition was signed by more than 400 people. The proposed resolution said that Israeli academic institutions "play a central part in furthering Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide."
On March 12 2026, a letter from ASA president Shelley J. Correll and executive directory Heather M. Washington said that the proposal was ineligible for members to vote on it. The letter said that this was because the proposal would have an impact on ASA governance matters and business operations. In the letter, Correll and Washington said that following the 2024 Resolution for Justice in Palestine "many members" had left the organization. However, critics of this statement noted that ASA membership had been largely unchanged, going from 9,923 in 2023 to 9,319 in 2024, then 9,433 in 2025. A petition in support of the letter from Correll and Washington gathered just over 115 signatures.
From April 2026, Sociologists for Palestine organized a boycott of the ASA annual meeting. This involved ASA members not paying conference registration fees or booking accommodation with ASA hotels. In addition, supporters of the group arranged parallel activities to be run elsewhere in New York or via online meetings during the conference period. ASA moved the conference registration deadline from June 1 to June 15. The Jewish Voice for Peace academic council issued a statement endorsing the boycott, describing ASA leadership's actions as an "anti-democratic refusal to put a member-led resolution to a membership vote". By late June, Sociologists for Palestine said that over 800 people had signed up to this boycott.
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