Sociology's interventions: Engaging the media and politics while remaining a social scientist
Dados Bibliográficos
AUTOR(ES) | |
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AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, France |
ANO | 2014 |
TIPO | Artigo |
PERIÓDICO | Current Sociology |
ISSN | 0011-3921 |
E-ISSN | 1461-7064 |
EDITORA | SAGE Publications |
DOI | 10.1177/0011392113515562 |
ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
MD5 |
56ae54927eff0e558f42ceab6ef61531
|
Resumo
Public sociology implies not simply a general orientation to social research but also a methodology that connects the sociologist to a 'public.' This is the case, with some provisos, for the method of sociological intervention, invented by Alain Touraine, that I have pursued in studies of racism, anti-Semitism and terrorism, as well as of anti-nuclear and labor movements. The approach has led to complicated relations with the media and with politics. In this article I give a series of examples of such engagement and the dilemmas it creates for the sociologist who wants to maintain a critical distance. Ultimately, the question and the challenge of public sociology boil down to how one can intervene in social life and, at the same time, remain a social scientist.