Leading academics reflect on concepts and aspects of public sociology education in this perceptive collection of case studies, linked by critical dialogue between contributors. They consider publics, practices and special knowledges in the field, and go beyond academia’s boundaries to explore the purposes and targets of sociological knowledge.
Michael Burawoy has helped to reshape the theory and practice of sociology across the Western world. Public Sociology is his most thoroughgoing attempt to explore what a truly committed, engaged sociology should look like in the twenty-first century. Burawoy looks back on the defining moments of his intellectual journey, exploring his pivotal early experiences as a researcher, such as his fieldwork in a Zambian copper mine and a Chicago factory. He recounts his time as a graduate and professor during the ideological ferment in sociology departments of the 1970s, and explores how his experiences intersected with a changing political and intellectual world up to the present. Recalling Max Weber, Burawoy argues that sociology is much more than just a discipline – it is a vocation, to be practiced everywhere and by everyone.
Cutting across multiple disciplines, this book maps out a new role for the public sociologist in the post-COVID world. It envisions a new kind of public sociology that brings together “the digital” and the “physical” to create public spaces where critical scholarship and active civic engagement can meet in a mutually reinforcing way.
Public sociology—an approach to sociology that aims to communicate with and actively engage wider audiences—has been one of the most widely discussed topics in the discipline in recent years. The Handbook of Public Sociology presents a comprehensive look at every facet of public sociology in theory and practice. It pays particular attention to how public sociology can complement more traditional types of sociological practice to advance both the analytical power of the discipline and its ability to benefit society. The volume features contributions from a stellar list of authors, including several past presidents of the American Sociological Association such as Michael Burawoy, a leading proponent of public sociology. The first two sections of the Handbook of Public Sociology look at public sociology in relation to the other three types of practice—professional, policy, and critical—with an emphasis on integrating the four types into a holistic model of theory and practice. Subsequent sections focus on issues like teaching public sociology at various levels, case studies in the application of public sociology, and the role of public sociology in special fields in the discipline. The concluding chapter by Michael Burawoy, a past president of the American Sociological Association and a leading proponent of public sociology, addresses current debates surrounding public sociology and presents a constructive vision for the future that embraces and improves upon all four types of sociology. The Handbook of Public Sociology with its examination not only of public sociology but also of how it can enhance and complement other types of practice, transcends differences in the field and will appeal to a wide range of academics, students, and practitioners.
This book brings together the work of public sociologists from across the globe to illuminate possibilities for the practice of public sociology and the potential for international exchange in the field. In addition to sections devoted to the history, theory, methodology and possible future of public sociology, it offers a series of concrete case studies of public sociology practice from experienced scholars and practitioners, addressing core themes including the role of students in public sociology, the production of knowledge by communities and the sharing of knowledge with a view to having an influence on policy. Presenting research that is truly global in scope, The Routledge International Handbook of Public Sociology provides readers with the opportunity to consider the possibilities that exist for international collaboration in their work and reflect on future directions. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in research with public impact.
This book highlights the variety of ways in which sociology brings about social change in community settings, assists nonprofit and social service organizations in their work, and influences policy at the local, regional, and national levels. It also spotlights sociology that informs the general public on key policy issues through media and creates research centers that develop and carry out collaborative research. The book details a broad range of sociology projects. The 33 case studies are divided into 8 sections. Each section also includes sidebars of include non-sociologists writing about the impact of selected research projects. In some cases these are interdisciplinary projects since solutions to social problems are often multifaceted and do not fit into the disciplines as defined by universities. Further, it emphasizes actions and connections. This is not armchair sociology where self-proclaimed public sociologists just write articles suggesting what government, corporations, communities, or others "ought to do." The authors are interested in the active connections to publics and users of the research, not the passive research process.
As social media is increasingly becoming a standard feature of sociological practice, this timely book rethinks the role of these mediums in public sociology and what they can contribute to the discipline in the post-COVID world. It reconsiders the history and current conceptualizations of what sociology is, and analyzes what kinds of social life emerge in and through the interactions between ‘intellectuals’, ‘publics’ and ‘platforms’ of communication. Cutting across multiple disciplines, this pioneering work envisions a new kind of public sociology that brings together the digital and the physical to create public spaces where critical scholarship and active civic engagement can meet in a mutually reinforcing way.
In 2004, Michael Burawoy challenged sociologists to move beyond the ivory tower and into the realm of activism, to engage in public discourses about what society could or should be. His call to arms sparked debate among sociologists. Which side would sociologists take? Would "public sociology" speak for all sociologists? In this volume, leading Canadian experts continue the debate by discussing their discipline's mission and practice and the role that ethics plays in research, theory, and teaching. In doing so, they offer insights as to where their discipline is heading and why it matters to people inside and outside the university.
As the rise of global right-wing populism and Trumpism creates new interest in psycho-social writing and popular sociology, this timely book tells the story of the rise, fall and contemporary revival of the thoeries of Erich Fromm, a 1930s influential and creative public intellectual.
Public Sociology, 2nd edition offers a fundamental enriching of method far beyond the scope of research methodology textbooks. It looks at sociology as a social act-as writing-in arguing for a public sociology that can more fully embrace and address crucial public issues. Building on the philosophy of science and recent postmodernist critiques, Agger shows how the social science text reproduces the existing social world, suppressing science's author in order to position itself as simply a mirror of nature, not a deliberate human version replete with ontology, theory, values, and politics. As such, method is an argument that polemicizes quietly for a certain view of the world. Agger peruses how science could be crafted differently, acknowledging, even embracing its authoriality while opening it to crosscurrents of other humanistic writing. Only by liberating sociology from the "secret writing" of science can its ineradicable humanity be realized. But rather than dwelling on recent critiques, this, more than any other book, looks ahead to a new way of doing science-one that is simultaneously more scientific and humanistic. Its prescient view of how social science can take the lead in building a more democratic public sphere will make it a must-read for every student and researcher.
