In 2004, Michael Burawoy, speaking as president of the American Sociological Association, generated far-reaching controversy when he issued an ambitious and impassioned call for a "public sociology." Burawoy argued that sociology should speak beyond the university, engaging with social movements and deepening an understanding of the historical and social context in which they exist. In this volume, renowned sociologists come together to debate the perils and the potentials of Burawoy's challenge.

Contributors: Andrew Abbott, Michael Burawoy, Patricia Hill Collins, Barbara Ehrenreich, Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Sharon Hays, Douglas Massey, Joya Misra, Orlando Patterson, Frances Fox Piven, Lynn Smith-Lovin, Judith Stacey, Arthur Stinchcombe, Alain Touraine, Immanuel Wallerstein, William Julius Wilson, Robert Zussman

In 2004, Michael Burawoy, speaking as president of the American Sociological Association, generated far-reaching controversy when he issued an ambitious and impassioned call for a "public sociology." Burawoy argued that sociology should speak beyond the university, engaging with social movements and deepening an understanding of the historical and social context in which they exist. In this volume, renowned sociologists come together to debate the perils and the potentials of Burawoy's challenge.

Contributors: Andrew Abbott, Michael Burawoy, Patricia Hill Collins, Barbara Ehrenreich, Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Sharon Hays, Douglas Massey, Joya Misra, Orlando Patterson, Frances Fox Piven, Lynn Smith-Lovin, Judith Stacey, Arthur Stinchcombe, Alain Touraine, Immanuel Wallerstein, William Julius Wilson, Robert Zussman

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTORY
Introduction—Robert Zussman and Joya Misra
For Public Sociology—Michael Burawoy

INSTITUTIONALIZING PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY
Public Sociology and the End of Society—Alain Touraine
Stalled at the Altar? Conflict, Hierarchy, and Compartmentalization in Burawoy’s Public Sociology—Sharon Hays
If I Were the Goddess of Sociological Things—Judith Stacey
Going Public: Doing the Sociology That Had No Name—Patricia Hill Collins

POLITICS AND THE PROFESSION
Speaking to Publics—William Julius Wilson
Do We Need a Public Sociology? It Depends on What You Mean bySociology—Lynn Smith-Lovin
Speaking Truth to the Public, and Indirectly to Power—Arthur L. Stinchcombe
The Strength of Weak Politics—Douglas S. Massey
From Public Sociology to Politicized Sociologist—Frances Fox Piven

FALSE DISTINCTIONS: CONCEPTUAL RESERVATIONS
The Sociologist and the Public Sphere—Immanuel Wallerstein
About Public Sociology—Orlando Patterson
For Humanist Sociology—Andrew Abbott

INTERDISCIPLINARITY
Whose Public Sociology? The Subaltern Speaks, but Who Is Listening?—Evelyn Nakano Glenn
A Journalist’s Plea—Barbara Ehrenreich

REJOINDER
The Field of Sociology: Its Power and Its Promise—Michael Burawoy

Editors and Contributors
Index