Handbook of public sociology

Barbara Adam

Wendell Bell

Michael Burawoy

Stephen Cornell

Michael DeCesare

Sean Elias

Joe Feagin

Frank Furedi

Herbert J. Gans

Norval D. Glenn

John Hagan

Ruth Horowitz

Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Lina Hu

Vincent Jeffries

Robert Kleidman

Elizabeth Dermody Leonard

Damon Mayrl

Bill McCarthy

Raymond A. Morrow

Jennifer Mueller

Lawrence T. Nichols

Samuel P. Oliner

Pamela E. Oliver

Caroline Hodges Persell

Saskia Sassen

Edward A. Tiryakian

Laurel Westbrook

Handbook of

Public Sociology

Vincent Jeffries

JEFFRIES LITTLFIELD ROWMAN &

Sociology | Theory

“The publication of The Handbook of Public Sociology is timely and important.While

it reveals the tensions and disputes about public sociology within the discipline of

sociology, it also makes clear its potential to educate the public on many crucial

social problems and issues confronting our society.This volume is a must-read for

those who believe that sociology’s findings, theories, and ideas should be more

widely disseminated.” —William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser

University Professor, Harvard University

Public sociology—an approach to sociology that aims to communicate with and

actively engage wider audiences—has been one of the most widely discussed top￾ics in the discipline in recent years.The Handbook of Public Sociology presents a com￾prehensive look at every facet of public sociology in theory and practice. It pays

particular attention to how public sociology can complement more traditional

types of sociological practice to advance both the analytical power of the discipline

and its ability to benefit society.The volume features contributions from a stellar

list of authors, including several past presidents of the American Sociological

Association such as Michael Burawoy, a leading proponent of public sociology.

The first two sections of the Handbook of Public Sociology look at public sociology

in relation to the other three types of practice—professional, policy, and critical—

with an emphasis on integrating the four types into a holistic model of theory and

practice. Subsequent sections focus on issues such as teaching public sociology at

various levels, case studies in the application of public sociology, and the role of

public sociology in special fields in the discipline, while continuing to emphasize

interdependence of the four types of sociology.The concluding chapter by Michael

Burawoy addresses current debates surrounding public sociology and presents a

constructive vision for the future that embraces and improves upon all four types

of sociology.

The Handbook of Public Sociology transcends differences in the field and will appeal

to a wide range of academics, students, and practitioners.

Vincent Jeffries is professor of sociology at California State University,

Northridge.

For orders and information please contact the publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of

The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200

Lanham, Maryland 20706

1-800-462-6420

www.rowmanlittlefield.com

edited by

Handbook of

Public Sociology

HandbookPublicPODLITH.qxd 4/28/09 12:18 PM Page 1

Handbook of

Public Sociology

Handbook of

Public Sociology

Edited by

Vincent Jeffries

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.

Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.

Published in the United States of America

by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowmanlittlefield.com

Estover Road

Plymouth PL6 7PY

United Kingdom

Copyright © 2009 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Handbook of public sociology / edited by Vincent Jeffries.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7425-6646-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7425-6648-4

(electronic)

1. Sociology—Philosophy. 2. Applied sociology. I. Jeffries, Vincent.

HM511.H36 2009

301—dc22 2009004561

Printed in the United States of America

™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper

for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

v

1 Redefining the Nature and Future of Sociology:

Toward a Holistic Sociology 1

Vincent Jeffries

Part I: Exploring and Elaborating the Holistic Model

2 Burawoy’s Holistic Sociology and Sorokin’s “Integralism”:

A Conversation of Ideas 27

Lawrence T. Nichols

3 Rethinking Burawoy’s Public Sociology:

A Post-Empiricist Reconstruction 47

Raymond A. Morrow

4 Social Justice and Critical Public Sociology 71

Joe Feagin, Sean Elias, and Jennifer Mueller

5 Public Sociology and the Future: The Possible, the Probable,

and the Preferable 89

Wendell Bell

6 The Scientific System of Public Sociology: The Exemplar of

Pitirim A. Sorokin’s Social Thought 107

Vincent Jeffries

Contents

Part II: Establishing and Perfecting the Model

7 A Sociology for Public Sociology: Some Needed Disciplinary

Changes for Creating Public Sociology 123

Herbert J. Gans

8 Some Suggested Standards for Distinguishing between

Good and Bad Public Sociology 135

Norval D. Glenn

9 On Writing Public Sociology: Accountability through

Accessibility, Dialogue, and Relevance 151

Damon Mayrl and Laurel Westbrook

10 Recapturing the Sociological Imagination: The Challenge for

Public Sociology 171

Frank Furedi

Part III: Teaching and Public Sociology

11 Presenting Sociology’s Four “Faces”: Problems and Prospects

for the High School Course 187

Michael DeCesare

12 Teaching and Public Sociology 205

Caroline Hodges Persell

Part IV: The Practice of Organic Public Sociology: Case Studies

13 From Data to Drama: Returning Research to

Convicted Survivors 225

Elizabeth Dermody Leonard

14 Integrating the Four Sociologies: The “Baigou Project”

in China 245

Lina Hu

15 Becoming Public Sociology: Indigenous Nations, Dialogue,

and Change 263

Stephen Cornell

16 Talking about Racial Disparities in Imprisonment:

A Reflection on Experiences in Wisconsin 281

Pamela E. Oliver

17 Public Membership on Medical Licensing Boards:

An Integrated Public and Professional Project 299

Ruth Horowitz

vi Contents

18 Counting the Deaths in Darfur: Pitfalls on the Pathway to

a Public Sociology 319

Bill McCarthy and John Hagan

Part V: Special Fields and Public Sociology

19 Engaged Social Movement Scholarship 341

Robert Kleidman

20 Public Sociology and Universal Human Rights 357

Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

21 Altruism, Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation as

Public Sociology 375

Samuel P. Oliner

22 A Public Sociology for a Global Age: Recovering the Political 391

Saskia Sassen

23 Global Altruism: Some Considerations 409

Edward A. Tiryakian

24 Futures in the Making: Sociological Practice and Challenge 429

Barbara Adam

Part VI: Future Directions

25 The Public Sociology Wars 449

Michael Burawoy

Index 475

About the Contributors 491

Contents vii

1

In his 2004 presidential address to the American Sociological Association,

Michael Burawoy (2005a) issued a call to sociologists for commitment to

a common ethos, reciprocity among forms of practice, and greater societal

engagement. Unique to this message is a model of the discipline that has

the potential to change sociology in a manner that will greatly increase both

its fund of knowledge and understanding and its contribution to society.

In this call for greater accomplishment Burawoy “has actually proposed a

new vision for our discipline” and thus “has made an attempt to imagine

the future” (Abbott 2007:208).

The major theme of this Handbook of Public Sociology is the nature and im￾portance of Burawoy’s holistic model of sociological practice: professional,

the theoretical traditions and research programs; critical, the interrogation

of the good and of disciplinary moral visions; policy, the evaluation of

means to reach a designated end; and public, a dialogue between soci￾ologists and publics regarding sociological knowledge and understandings

(Burawoy 2005a).

The foundation of the model’s potential is the assumption of the in￾terdependence of these forms of sociology. This is a fundamental focus

of this handbook and is concisely and powerfully expressed by Burawoy

(2005a:15) in his presidential address: “Indeed, my normative vision of

the discipline of sociology is of reciprocal interdependence among our four

types—an organic solidarity in which each type of sociology derives energy,

meaning, and imagination from its connection to the others.”

Emphasis can be placed on the four sociologies model, rather than just

on the idea of public sociology. The most fundamental contribution to the

discipline is the model. The idea of an interdependence of the forms of

1

1

Redefining the Nature

and Future of Sociology:

Toward a Holistic Sociology

Vincent Jeffries

2 Chapter 1

practice in which each one can add to the excellence of the others is foun￾dational in transforming the discipline. Focus is thereby placed on the idea

that each form of practice is enhanced by giving attention to the essential

concerns and agenda of the others. Likewise, if the forms become detached

from each other, they move toward diminished performance and possibly

pathology. If public sociology is detached from the other forms of practice,

it too will diminish in validity and effectiveness. If this disciplinary model

is fully integrated into every form of practice, it can lift the science of sociol￾ogy to a higher level of performance in all its aspects.

In this holistic model, a discipline that can come closer to realizing its

most comprehensive potential can be created. For example, how profes￾sional and policy perspectives can mutually enhance each other is illus￾trated in a recent issue of a research journal. At the editor’s request, each

author included in their article a brief consideration of how their research

contributed to “the application of relationship theory and findings to

problems of the real world” (Boon 2008:iii). Positive results of this con￾sideration included a variety of potentially useful practical implications

of research findings, and an awareness of the need for greater attention to

adequately communicating and disseminating the results of research. Such

broadening of perspective and contribution would become routine with the

implementation of the holistic model in practice. Various modifications of

this nature that connect different forms of practice have great potential for

transforming the discipline in a positive direction.

The four sociologies model provides the basis for the emergence of a

community of scholars focused on the discernment of the truth in all its

relevant aspects and applications, and the appropriate dissemination of

that truth to various audiences. This community potentially embraces all

sociologists, both those in academic positions and those in non-academic

positions of various types. The effective path to this positive transformation

of the discipline is the full development and implementation of the model

of four sociologies.

This volume is intended to provide a description and analysis of the ho￾listic sociology model from a variety of perspectives and in a number of dif￾ferent contexts. In part I through part VI of this volume, attention is focused

on the nature of the model itself, how it can be established and perfected

within the discipline, the application of the model in teaching, case studies

of organic public sociology, the use of the model in special fields of sociol￾ogy, and future directions.

This introductory chapter has two major objectives. The first is to pro￾vide a brief overview of each chapter, emphasizing the context of the four

sociologies model. The second is to present the basic themes that link the

chapters into a unified vision of the discipline and its potential future

directions. This extensive demonstration and explication of the holistic so￾2 Chapter 1

Redefining the Nature and Future of Sociology 3

ciology perspective provides a basis for each person to make an informed

judgment regarding its nature, application, and potential.

OVERVIEW OF THE VOLUME

Part I: Exploring and Elaborating the Holistic Model

The characteristics of Burawoy’s four forms model of public sociology

are the foundation of its potential impact upon the discipline. The nature

of each form of sociology, its possible contributions to the system, and

the relationships that exist among the four modes of practice, are major

aspects of the model that are considered and evaluated in part I. Two of

the chapters apply the model to a system of thought, while two suggest

modifications to the model. Another chapter identifies and elaborates is￾sues suggested by the model.

Chapter 2, by Lawrence T. Nichols, describes and explicates Burawoy’s

theoretical model by comparing it with the system of sociology developed

by Pitirim A. Sorokin. Nichols begins by observing that both these scholars

were presidents of the American Sociological Association, were controver￾sial, “expressed profound optimism” in the science of sociology, and “invite

their audience to imagine an alternative future for the field.” In the first

part of the chapter Nichols describes Sorokin’s scholarly career in terms

of Burawoy’s model, showing that his legacy includes major publications

in all four forms of practice. This legacy culminated in Sorokin’s system of

integralism, which is described by Nichols in terms of seven major charac￾teristics. This account of Sorokin’s system of sociology provides the foun￾dation for an imagined debate between Sorokin and Burawoy regarding

the strong and weak points of their respective sociologies. This imaginary

exchange yields the conclusion that both scholars “would have regarded

one another as kindred spirits seeking to reinvigorate their discipline within

a context of perceived professional decline and historical crisis.”

Chapter 3, by Raymond A. Morrow, is intended to “offer some construc￾tive suggestions for revising and reframing the original model.” A review

and evaluation of the debate regarding Burawoy’s four form model provides

the basis for five steps proposed to reconstruct the model. The first step

involves eliminating the instrumental-reflexive distinction. The second step

is to replace critical sociology with a broader and more inclusive category

of social theory. The third reconstructive step is to reformulate the idea of

professional sociology to emphasize a variety of explanatory strategies. The

fourth step is to recognize basic divisions within policy sociology between a

pragmatic orientation directed toward particular ends and a broader orienta￾tion directed toward more radical and visionary changes. Finally, the fifth

4 Chapter 1

step is to recognize that social theory, professional sociology, and policy

and public sociologies are the conditions for institutionalizing sociology

as a field of knowledge that can inform a “process of humanization and

democratization.”

Chapter 4, by Joe Feagin, Sean Elias, and Jennifer Mueller, offers “several

criticisms and modifications” of the four form model. Most fundamentally,

a basic model that combines professional and policy sociology into “main￾stream sociology” and combines critical and public into “critical public

sociology” is presented. An opposition between these two forms, both

historically and in terms of their adherents and purposes, is posited. Criti￾cal public sociology is viewed as a “countersystem” that has existed since

the start of the discipline. This countersystem tradition identifies social

injustices, documents them empirically, and describes their basic socio￾logical nature and relation to the general society and culture. This “morally

guided” tradition is oriented to visions of a future society characterized by

“egalitarian resource access, democratic pluralism, and social justice.” So￾ciology is seen as a vehicle for more fully realizing these alternatives to the

current state of society.

In chapter 5 Wendell Bell addresses “two missing links” in the discus￾sion of public sociology and the other forms of practice. These essential

and inherent issues are how “sociologists as social scientists enter into public

dialogues” regarding “what the future outcomes of actions, events, and

processes could or will be” and “what defines a good society and what val￾ues ought to be served.” The future perspective inevitably involves choices

among alternatives, and various sociological methods can be adapted to

study both possibilities and consequences. This future perspective also

involves judgments regarding the good. Various sources indicate consider￾able agreement on universal values. The method of epistemic implication

constitutes an objective method for examining these value assertions. By

contributing more complex and rigorous thinking to public debates about

the future and about the good, public sociologists can help create a situa￾tion in which “people could imagine a better world that was truly possible

and design the actions that would create it.”

Vincent Jeffries describes the social thought of Pitirim A. Sorokin in

chapter 6. His writings span the four forms of practice and are “the ideal

exemplar for illustrating the validity and analytical power” of the four form

model of public sociology. Sorokin’s professional sociology is innovative,

comprehensive, and supported by historical and comparative research. It

includes the idea of an integral ontology and epistemology that incorpo￾rates philosophical and religious ideas within the sociological frame of

reference. Sorokin’s critical sociology derives from this professional base,

and is directed toward both sociology and the general society. It includes a

critique of existing conditions in both spheres and the formulation of posi-

Redefining the Nature and Future of Sociology 5

tive alternatives. Sorokin’s policy sociology is directed toward realizing the

positive vision of an integral order in which altruistic love and solidarity

are increased in society. These three sociologies provide the basis for a pub￾lic sociology that “provides a compelling and relevant message admirably

suited to dialogue with the public about a better world and how it can be

achieved.”

Part II: Establishing and Perfecting the Model

The chapters in part II consider various measures that will contribute to

the establishment of public sociology and the development of its potential.

Topics are diverse, including necessary changes in the discipline itself, stan￾dards to evaluate public sociology, writing for the public, and recapturing

the perspective of the sociological imagination. The common theme that

unites the chapters is the conditions necessary for the development of pub￾lic sociology, both within the discipline and in terms of its effectiveness in

society.

Chapter 7, by Herbert J. Gans, focuses on changes that need to be made

in the discipline of sociology for public sociology to flourish. These changes

are “urgent” because “the active development of public sociology is essen￾tial to the healthy future of the discipline.” Public sociology is sociological

writing that is intended for an audience in the general public. Its primary

purpose is to assist its readers in understanding the society they live in. So￾ciology needs to produce “eye-opening” studies that are “original, insight￾ful and attention-attracting empirical and theoretical research on topics

useful and relevant to all parts of the general public.” Such “topic-driven”

studies will foster the growth of public sociology. Another needed disciplin￾ary change is the creation of a varied incentive structure to encourage the

practice and publication of public sociology. In graduate education needed

changes include partial curriculum tracks for public sociology, and collabo￾ration with disciplines such as journalism and the humanities.

The goal of Norval D. Glenn in chapter 8 is “to formulate a set of sug￾gested standards for distinguishing between good and bad public sociol￾ogy.” These are stated in terms of what the individual sociologist “can do to

foster good public sociology.” Ultimate values are ends that do not depend

on beliefs about empirical reality, while relative values do. Science cannot

assess ultimate values, but sociologists are involved in the assessment of

derivative values in terms of their relation to ultimate values. Thus, two ba￾sic standards are that the public sociologist can devise and assess means, or

derivative values, in terms of their effectiveness in realizing ultimate values.

In doing so, however, only tentative commitments should be made to de￾rivative values. Other standards include avoiding taking positions to please

others, opposing unwarranted claims, communicating both the potential

6 Chapter 1

contributions of sociology and the limits of its knowledge, being motivated

by the attempt to make the world better, engaging in effective communica￾tion, and protecting the credibility and respectability of sociology.

Chapter 9, by Damon Mayrl and Laurel Westbrook, confronts the practical

issue of how to do public sociology by “introducing a series of concrete pro￾posals about how to write public sociology.” The foundation of successful

public sociology is accountability. This orientation involves being respon￾sible to publics and “is achieved by making a good-faith effort to engage

with chosen publics in an attitude of mutual respect.” Accountability has

three components: dialogue, relevance, and accessibility. Dialogue involves

incorporating non-academic opinions in shaping context, approaching a

topic with terms that are part of the public debate, and presenting data in a

manner publics can independently evaluate. Relevance involves both dem￾onstrating the utility of sociology in increasing understanding, and making

abstract concepts concrete and meaningful. Accessibility means writing in

a form the public is familiar with. Each of these components are illustrated

by excerpts from exemplars of public sociology. For public sociology to suc￾ceed, graduate education needs to give more attention to writing.

In chapter 10 Frank Furedi suggests that public sociology can contribute

greatly to the content of discourse in the public sphere. To realize this po￾tential “one of the main purposes of public sociology has to be its commit￾ment to rising to the challenge of recapturing the sociological imagination.”

Certain problematic viewpoints must be recognized. First, the disparaging,

patronizing, and elitist attitudes toward the general public often held by

academic intellectuals must be resisted. Rather, there should be an effort

to present a sociological view of the world to wide and diverse audiences.

Second, there is a prevailing cultural belief that individual distress is best

understood in emotional and therapeutic terms, and as a product of the

choices and internal life of the individual. This must be replaced with a

sociological perspective that enables individuals to view their experiences

in a historical and social context that gives them meaning. This creates a

worldview that “can encourage purposeful public activity and the exercise

of agency.”

Part III: Teaching and Public Sociology

Students are the most numerous public that sociologists regularly com￾municate with regarding sociological knowledge and understandings. In

part III the chapters consider the relation between teaching and public so￾ciology at the high school and university levels, respectively. The chapters

identify and analyze both separate and combined influences of the four

sociological perspectives on teaching. At both levels of teaching, the holistic

nature of the public sociology model is illustrated.