Review Symposium: Interactionism Meets Historical Analysis: An Author-Critic Dialogue on "Revolution and Witchcraft: The Code of Ideology in Unsettled Times"

In this article, an author-meets-critics session is recorded for the book "Revolution and Witchcraft: The Code of Ideology in Unsettled Times," authored by Gordon C. CHANG. The session took place at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association (SSHA) in Toronto, Canada. Beside the author, panelists included sociologist Andrew CHALFOUN (University of California, Los Angeles); sociologist Tad SKOTNICKI (University of North Carolina, Greensboro); historian Aminda SMITH (Michigan State University); and communication scholar J.R. OSBORN (Georgetown University). The highly unconventional, cross-disciplinary nature of the book sparked an engaging dialogue. Differing opinions were voiced regarding: 1. How—and whether— CHANG in his "codification model" advanced a workable, original sociology of knowledge approach; 2. the utility of that model for scholars from different disciplines who study idea systems and social phenomena; 3. the difference between idea systems that are empirically based and those that are ideationally based; and 4. how microscopic analysis of language might make causal claims about macroscopic patterns of humanistic and social-scientific relevance. These issues arose due to differences between and among diverse approaches of interactionism and historical analysis. In this dialogue, methodological decisions and judgments are unveiled which were involved in CHANG's eclectic study, as well as applications and areas of future development that are otherwise hidden in the research product.