Comments on Burawoy: A View From the Bottom-up

Abstract

Burawoy's call for a critical and transformative "public sociology," whose goal is realizing the "real utopia" of democratic socialism, is welcome. We especially value and appreciate his call at this time because Burawoy has offered it during his presidency of the ASA -and thus from inside the profession and a key center of power in defining sociology as both theory and practice. We also value and appreciate it because it comes at a crucial moment in bottom-up movement building -another powerful process in defining social theory, social struggle and their dynamic relationship in social transformation.Our brief comments are informed by our work in Project South as "organic public sociologists" -in the trenches as well as the academy for 35+ years. They are also informed by a long and rich tradition of radical and Marxist sociology that teaches us many lessons. Two of the most essential are that "Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point however is to change it." For us this change is fundamental, qualitative, systemic, transformative, and is central to our historic struggle for human liberation in the broadest, deepest and most inclusive sense. And, second, that theory and practice are two aspects of a powerful, dialectical unity born out of and continuously tested in our social struggle to end all forms of exploitation and oppression. Neither can exist without the other.Burawoy argues -and we agree -that change flows from outside the university in. The movements of the 1960s and 1970s -black liberation, national liberation and anti-imperialist/anti-colonial struggles, women's equality, sexual equality, environmental justice struggles, etc. -created the conditions for a radical sociology. Social struggles outside the university

The Baby and the Bathwater

“…Courses that offer the kind of working vocabulary and tools I emphasize here, especially if disciplinary debates are coupled with locally grounded work addressing social inequalities, can help future sociologists advocate against the continued professionalization of the discipline and thus strengthen its appeal to socialchange oriented students, activists, and scholars. But I also believe the same process can begin at the undergraduate level, preparing an even broader range of students to treat those ''analytical and methodological tools'' Katz-Fishman and Scott (2005) emphasize as public goods rather than the private property of academics. And in that preparation, an even broader range of students can prompt and expand departmental conversations among faculty that contribute to the process of shifting curricular design and junior faculty evaluation as well.…”

“…But this working vocabulary and these tools also have an indirect effect by helping students better recognize and resist the taken-for-granted reproduction of what Katz-Fishman and Scott (2005) criticize as mystified and fetishized approaches to knowledge inside the academy. Those approaches create obstacles to meaningfully engaged work and discourage the kind of reciprocal and locally grounded partnerships I follow Strand et al (2003), Katz-Fishman and Scott (2005), and Pennell and Maher (2015), among many others, in emphasizing throughout this article. Therefore, the social change goals of publicly engaged sociology benefit from inward debates that help students and faculty render those problematic approaches visible as just one of many sociologies, rather than the highest form.…”

Why sociology does not need to be saved: Analytic reflections on public sociologies

“…Burawoy's friendly left critics also argue that his defense of a disciplinary consolidation for sociology misses the radical implications of interdisciplinary perspectives and visions (Acker, 2005;Aronowitz, 2005;Baiocchi, 2005;Braithwaite 2005;Brewer, 2005;Calhoun 2005;Ghamari-Tabrizi, 2005;Katz-Fishman and Scott, 2005;Urry, 2005). For example, to insist that sociology's focus is civil society, whereas the market is strictly the purview of economics, may reinforce the erroneous patriarchal idea of separate public and private spheres, perpetuating the invisibility of women's contribution to the economy through their reproductive labour (Acker, 2005).…”

Prática de pesquisa e "sociologia pública": uma discussão em torno de cruzamentos possíveis e outros nem tanto

“…31 da revista Critical Sociology, incluída também no próprio site pessoal do autor: <http://sociology.berkeley.edu/faculty/burawoy/workingspapers.htm> Acesso em 6.12.06. Veja-se sobretudo Aranowitz (2005), Urry (2005), Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome Scott (2005), Baiocchi (2005), Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi (2005). 3 Daqui em diante, PS.…”