Sociologists and other social scientists confront a number of trends in American society and even inside the academic world such as anti-intellectualism and a preference for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Often, people in the public have a misperception about what social sciences are and what sociologists do. However, a number of important people such as Martin Luther King offered an explicit vision of the mission for social scientists. That vision entails social scientists as progressive social change agents. Two sociologists who fit that vision are Ernst Borinski and Howard Becker. These public scholars spent a lot of time understanding in-group/out-group dynamics. They also took on the insider/outsider roles to conduct their research and pursue other endeavors. Becker and Borinski and other sociologists were able to show the public why sociology is important in the day-to-day lives of individuals. Drawing on the works of Becker and Borinski, the author offers some suggestions on how to convey insights from the discipline to reporters, writers, and other opinion leaders.

In August 2022, the Pearl River flooded portions of Jackson, Mississippi and temporarily closed the city’s water treatment plant, leaving most citizens without access to safe drinking and potable water for more than a month. This event punctuated an ongoing water crisis that had lingered for decades in this predominately African American city. We employ a social production of disaster approach to reveal aspects of slow violence perpetrated against disadvantaged peoples that increased their collective vulnerability to flood risks and limited their access to safe water. Using survey data collected one year after the flood, we examine event-related psychosocial stress as measured by the Impact of Event Scale and associated risk factors related to Conservation of Resources Theory. Multivariate analysis indicates that resource losses from the flood, health concerns about water quality, and trust in government were significantly related to elevated levels of psychosocial stress. Although the 2022 Pearl River flood can be treated as a discrete event, a social production of disaster perspective situates the flood in terms of its cascading effects and cumulative impacts on the city’s water infrastructure and citizens who depend on it.