Lozano, Alberto Arribas
(2018)
Reframing the public sociology
debate: Towards collaborative
and decolonial praxis.
Current Sociology, 66 (1).
pp. 92-109.
ISSN 0011-3921
Abstract
This article presents a critical analysis of Michael Burawoy’s model of public sociology,
discussing several of its epistemic and methodological limitations. First, the author
focuses on the ambiguity of Burawoy’s proposal, problematizing the absence of a clear
delimitation of the concept of ‘public sociology’. Second, the author links the academic
success of the category of public sociology to the global division of sociological labour,
emphasizing the ‘geopolitics of knowledge’ involved in Burawoy’s work and calling for
the decolonization of social science. Then, the author expounds his concerns regarding
the hierarchy of the different types of sociology proposed by Burawoy, who privileges
professional sociology over other types of sociological praxis. Reflecting upon these
elements will provide a good opportunity to observe how our discipline works,
advancing also suggestions for its transformation. Along these lines, in the last section
of the article the author elaborates on the need to go beyond a dissemination model of
public sociology – the unidirectional diffusion of ‘expert knowledge’ to extra-academic
audiences – and towards a more collaborative understanding of knowledge production.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Collaborative research; decolonization of social science; epistemic violence;
geopolitics of knowledge; public sociology; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology |
| Item ID: |
13281 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392117715897 |
| Depositing User: |
Alberto Arribas Lozano
|
| Date Deposited: |
24 Sep 2020 15:55 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Current Sociology |
| Publisher: |
SAGE Publications |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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