Public sociology : fifteen eminent sociologists debate politics and the profession in the twenty-first century / edited by Dan Clawson ... [et al.].

Includes bibliographical references and index.

For public sociology / Michael Burawoy -- 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 -- Speaking to publics / William Julius Wilson -- Do we need a public sociology? : it depends on what you mean by sociology / 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 -- The sociologist and the public sphere / Immanuel Wallerstein -- About public sociology / Orlando Patterson -- For humanist sociology / Andrew Abbott -- Whose public sociology? : the subaltern speaks, but who is listening? / Evelyn Nakano Glenn -- A journalist's plea / Barbara Ehrenreich -- The field of sociology : its power and its promise / Michael Burawoy.

"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 and engage with social movements, deepening their 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. Among the questions they address are: Who is, and who should be, the audience for academic social science? Should social scientists write primarily for members of their own academic discipline, or should they aim to reach a broader public? Should social scientists simply find the best means to achieve goals determined by others, or should they themselves reflect critically on these goals? Taken together, these lively debates offer provocative visions of the social sciences, the organization of universities, and the goals of academia for the twenty-first century.Contributors: Andrew Abbott, Michael Burawoy, Paticia Hill Collins, Barbara Ehrenreich, Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Sharon Hays, Douglas S. Massey, Joya Misra, Orlando Patterson, Frances Fox Piven, Lynn Smith-Lovin, Judith Stacey, Arthur Stinchcombe, Alaine Touraine, Immanuel Wallerstein, William Julius Wilson, Robert Zussman"--Publisher description.