Sociology as Public Discourse and Professional Practice

A Critique of Michael Burawoy

Bibliographic Data

ID2265449
AuthorsJohn Holmwood (0000-0002-3440-3524, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume25
Issue1
Pages46-66
Publication date2007-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-2751 • E-ISSN: 1467-9558
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9558.2007.00297.x
OpenAlexW1990043101
LanguageEN
Citations received42
References cited70

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

Argument (complex analysis · Epistemology · Historical sociology · Legitimacy · Medical sociology · Neutrality · Political science · Political sociology · Politics · Public sociology · Social science · Sociological imagination · Sociology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Law · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Science and Policy Research

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