Public Sociology: Working at the Interstices (original) (raw)
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New Social Connections: Sociology’s Subjects and Objects.Eds: Judith Burnett, Syd Jeffers, Graham Thomas. Palgrave MacmIllan, 2010
In the early 1990s I turned again towards sociology. Reading Zygmunt Bauman and Stuart Hall, I began to think there might be some point in the discipline after all. This chapter reflects on aspects of the journey I made. Through an examination of Bauman’s work on intellectuals (1987) and Burawoy’s argument for ‘public sociology’ (2005), it offers support for those who work to open the space within universities for a sociology which is passionate about changing the world in favour of its oppressed and exploited peoples. For reasons that are only beginning to become clear to me, since my early teens I have felt enraged by exploitation and oppression, particularly racism, which is why Max Weber’s metaphor of the demon clutching the threads of my life appealed so strongly. I still search for an ‘enraged’/‘engaged’ sociology which can help translate my turbulent emotions into practical action for change, to meet the demands of the day.
Dialogue II: ‘Really Useful’ Public Sociology Knowledge
Public Sociology As Educational Practice: Challenges, Dialogues and Counter-Publics, 2020
This dialogue includes an engageme nt between the author and two of the case contributo rs, both of whom are operating at the boundaries of policy sociology. Whilst this has perhaps underrepre sented those working in other spheres of knowledg e co-produc tion-research, art, behaviour-it has allowed a focus on the kinds of knowledge that find their ways into the process of policy developm ent and, more generally, what knowledge is valued in the public sphere. The section starts with Jan Law's case study of a particular practice of sociology, driven by the needs of policy. Policy formation and implementa tion, with its associated discourses of politics, influence, interests and media narrative, constitute s an important public sphere in which public sociology might occur, as well as a branch of sociology with the particular combinat ion (according to Burawoy's (2005) categorisa tion) of instrum.en tal knowledg e aimed at an ext~academic audience. Jan's experienc e of the challenge to the acadenuc Integrity of the sociologis t in this context, especially f~om s~onsor capture, leads her to 'cross the quadrant' towards public socwlogy. The key issue that this policy-to-public sociology raises is not so rnuch • 1 • .
Reframing the public sociology debate: Towards collaborative and decolonial praxis
2018
This article presents a critical analysis of Michael Burawoy's model of public sociology, discussing several of its epistemic and methodological limitations. First, the author focuses on the ambiguity of Burawoy's proposal, problematizing the absence of a clear delimitation of the concept of 'public sociology'. Second, the author links the academic success of the category of public sociology to the global division of sociological labour, emphasizing the 'geopolitics of knowledge' involved in Burawoy's work and calling for the decolonization of social science. Then, the author expounds his concerns regarding the hierarchy of the different types of sociology proposed by Burawoy, who privileges professional sociology over other types of sociological praxis. Reflecting upon these elements will provide a good opportunity to observe how our discipline works, advancing also suggestions for its transformation. Along these lines, in the last section of the article the author elaborates on the need to go beyond a dissemination model of public sociology-the unidirectional diffusion of 'expert knowledge' to extra-academic audiences-and towards a more collaborative understanding of knowledge production.
Sociology as Public Discourse and Professional Practice: A Critique of Michael Burawoy*
Sociological Theory, 2007
In this article I discuss Burawoy's (2005) argument for public sociology in the context of the sociologist as both citizen and as social scientist; that is, as simultaneously a member of any 'society' being researched and as researcher claiming validity for the knowledge produced by research. I shall suggest that the relation between citizenship and social science necessarily places a limit on sociological claims to knowledge in terms both of what can be claimed and of the legitimacy of any claims, but that this need not be damaging to sociology as an expert practice producing distinctive and significant forms of knowledge about the social world. Burawoy's claims on behalf of public sociology take their force from the idea of the sociologist as citizen, but they go beyond this limit in a way that would not only undermine the legitimacy of sociology as professional practice, but also, I shall argue, that of public sociology itself. Ultimately, Burawoy argues for a partisan profession that actively promotes human values that he believes to be embodied in the sociological standpoint. In contrast, I shall argue that political neutrality is central to the corporate organization of sociology, not because social inquiry can, or should be, value-neutral, but because corporate political neutrality creates the space for dialogue and is the condition for any sociology to have a voice.
Sociology as Professional Practice and Public Discourse: A Critique of Michael Burawoy
Sociological Theory, 2007
In this article I discuss Burawoy's (2005) argument for public sociology in the context of the sociologist as both citizen and as social scientist; that is, as simultaneously a member of any 'society' being researched and as researcher claiming validity for the knowledge produced by research. I shall suggest that the relation between citizenship and social science necessarily places a limit on sociological claims to knowledge in terms both of what can be claimed and of the legitimacy of any claims, but that this need not be damaging to sociology as an expert practice producing distinctive and significant forms of knowledge about the social world. Burawoy's claims on behalf of public sociology take their force from the idea of the sociologist as citizen, but they go beyond this limit in a way that would not only undermine the legitimacy of sociology as professional practice, but also, I shall argue, that of public sociology itself. Ultimately, Burawoy argues for a partisan profession that actively promotes human values that he believes to be embodied in the sociological standpoint. In contrast, I shall argue that political neutrality is central to the corporate organization of sociology, not because social inquiry can, or should be, value-neutral, but because corporate political neutrality creates the space for dialogue and is the condition for any sociology to have a voice.
Recapturing the Sociological Imagination: The Challenge for Public Sociology
2009
The tremendous enthusiasm with which the idea of public sociology has been embraced is a positive development. It indicates that many sociologists are aware that their discipline is not simply “academic” and that the kinds of questions they engage with require a wider conversation with a wider non-professional public. Some proponents of public sociology also aspire to embrace the role of a socially aware intellectual. Back in the early sixties C.