Public Sociology: Fifteen Eminent Sociologists Debate Politics and the Profession in the Twenty-first Century

Public Sociology: Fifteen Eminent Sociologists Debate Politics and the Profession in the Twenty-first Century
by Dan Clawson (Editor), Robert Zussman (Editor), Joya Misra (Editor), Naomi Gerstel (Editor), Randall Stokes (Editor)

* Paperback: 286 pages
* Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 6, 2007)

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.

Introductory
Introduction Robert Zussman Joya Misra 3
For Public Sociology Michael Burawoy 23
Institutionalizing Public Sociology
Public Sociology and the End of Society Alain Touraine 67
Stalled at the Altar? Conflict, Hierarchy, and Compartmentalization in Burawoy's Public Sociology Sharon Hays 79
If I Were the Goddess of Sociological Things Judith Stacey 91
Going Public: Doing the Sociology That Had No Name Patricia Hill Collins 101
Politics and the Profession
Speaking to Publics William Julius Wilson 117
Do We Need a Public Sociology? It Depends on What You Mean by Sociology Lynn Smith-Lovin 124
Speaking Truth to the Public, and Indirectly to Power Arthur L. Stinchcombe 135
The Strength of Weak Politics Douglas S. Massey 145
From Public Sociology to Politicized Sociologist Frances Fox Piven 158
False Distinctions: Conceptual Reservations
The Sociologist and the Public Sphere Immanuel Wallerstein 169
About Public Sociology Orlando Patterson 176
For Humanist Sociology Andrew Abbott 195
Interdisciplinarity
Whose Public Sociology? The Subaltern Speaks, but Who Is Listening? Evelyn Nakano Glenn 213
A Journalist's Plea Barbara Ehrenreich 231
Rejoinder
The Field of Sociology: Its Power and Its Promise Michael Burawoy 241
Editors and Contributors 259
Index 263


the phrase (public sociology) is by itself putting the question wrongly, the homo academicus' around here should read some Bourdieu

Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality by Jon Elster

Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality
by Jon Elster

# Paperback: 192 pages
# Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 31, 1985)

Review
'I cannot imagine anyone interested in the philosophy of the social sciences who could fail to profit from and be stimulated by this book.' Flint Schier, Philosophical Books

'Elster is an extremely impressive writer, at home in several languages and in a wide range of scholarly discourses, from philosophy, through game theory, parts of economics and psychology, to literary criticism. He writes attractively and inventively ...' Mary K. Farmer, The Economic Journal

'What makes [Elster] distinctive is a combination of philosophical acuity and detailed attention to contemporary work in history, the social sciences and cognitive psychology ... When Elster is at the top of his form the general ideas form the framework for the argument which is itself actually carried to great extent through the use of examples. This is hard to convey in a review. But it is what gives Elster's work its uniquely attractive quality. I would defy anyone to read, in particular, the second chapter of Sour Grapes without being charmed by the play of a subtle intellect in a remarkable range of materials.' Brian Barry, The London Review of Books

Book Description
Sour Grapes aims to subvert orthodox theories of rational choice through the study of forms of irrationality. Dr. Elster begins with an analysis of the notion of rationality, to provide the background and terms for the subsequent discussions, which cover irrational behaviour, irrational desires and irrational belief.

a master study