Reframing the public sociologydebate: Towards collaborativeand decolonial praxis
2018
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.
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