Michael Burawoy On Public Sociology

In his 2004 presidential address at the American Sociological Association meeting, Michael Burawoy made a call for reinvigorating public sociology to help drive social reforms. For him, sociology has reneged on its fundamental promise to effectively function as “a moral and political force” to ensure a just society, resulting in the increasing social inequality and commoditization of public goods, including public universities (Burawoy, 2005, p. 6). Burawoy therefore calls for rejuvenating public sociology, particularly organic public sociology that involves sociologists working actively and often closely with justice-oriented movements to “make visible the invisible” and “the private public,” to ensure social justice (2005, pp. 7-8).
Burawoy’s proposition has particularly prompted an intensive debate about whether or not …show more content…
The critics of public sociology argue that the normative and the partisan character of public sociology will most likely affect sociology’s scientific methods, the systematic and objective approach to the sociological research in pursuing the social reality (Deflem, 2006; Hanemaayer, 2014; Smith-Lovin, 2007; Stinchcombe, 2007). For instance, Deflem (2006, para 1) asserts that public sociology symbolizes “the new movement in sociology that wishes to abandon the ideals of science”. Hanemaayer (2014) suggests that Weber’s and Durkheim’s vision of sociology as a science does not involve an advocacy for a particular ideology, or working with political activists, to achieve a desired social change. Other critics argue that value-laden public sociology will not only undermine professional sociology and its legitimacy as a science, but also public sociology itself by impeding dialogue with the public due to its partisan nature (Holmwood, 2007; Massey, 2007; Turner,