Editor’s Introduction: Public Engagement and Hope

Abstract

In this issue, we present a set of papers that continue the still fascinating conversation about “public sociology,” particularly in response to the conceptual model articulated by Michael Burawoy around the time of his presidency of the American Sociological Association (2003–2004), but also moving independently in new directions. The initial paper, by Steven Ortiz, provides a first-person account of the experience of communicating sociological research via mass media. Here, the sociologist moves from the well defined role of academic researcher to the unfamiliar position of public figure playing a very different game that involves high-profile risks. Ortiz offers reflections on how sociology departments, as well as graduate training programs, might better meet these challenges. Lina Hu extends the conversation on public sociology into Asia, in her account of an intensive intervention in the People’s Republic of China. The focus here is on nontraditional public education for workers. The relationship of these efforts to Burawoy’s conceptual model is significantly different from those considered in earlier papers in this journal. Gabor Scheiring presents a friendly critique of Burawoy in his reflections on public sociology and the late modern turn, with particular reference to the European experience. Working from the premise that the gap between professional and public sociology can be overcome, and that public sociology has not been suppressed, he offers his own perspective for pursuing the project, based on what he calls a “selfanthropology.” Miklos Hadas likewise engages the Burawoy model and seeks to articulate an alternative strategy that is based on three dimensions of social-scientific work, namely, the prestige of scientists, their influence and their position on what is called the “action chain.” Citing the longstanding engagement of many sociologists in public policy, as evidenced by the research committees of the International Sociological Association, Hadas raises the question of whether Burawoy—with the best of intentions—is applying a battering ram to an already opened door. Am Soc (2007) 38:221–222 DOI 10.1007/s12108-007-9018-6