Forging New Directions for Qualitative Sociology: The Legacy of Kathy Charmaz

Abstract

As a tribute to Kathy Charmaz, the author discusses the fundamental role that Charmaz's work played in her development as a sociologist and qualitative researcher. The author notes that Charmaz's most prominent contributions are constructivist grounded theory, the notion of methodological self-consciousness, and discussions of the body and emotions as significant to substantive and methodological considerations. The author further describes how the synergy between Charmaz's key concepts and Black feminist perspectives have been relevant to how she leveraged and negotiated her positionality as a Black woman and transnational researcher. Ultimately, the author concludes that Kathy Charmaz's legacy reinforces the importance of equity-minded research and provides a model of how to extend concerns about social justice to activities that also disrupt structural barriers faced by underrepresented researchers.

Citation

Hordge-Freeman, E. (2022), "Forging New Directions for Qualitative Sociology: The Legacy of Kathy Charmaz", Bryant, A. and Clarke, A.E. (Ed.) Festschrift in Honour of Kathy Charmaz (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 56), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 89-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-239620220000056009