The Three Axes of Sociological Practice: The Case of French Quebec

Abstract

Public sociology is all too often presented as the polar opposite of the detached, purely objective observation of society (Clawson et al., 2007). Such a portrayal is misleading, for it tends to give credence to the idea that academic sociology is torn between two extremes, the political and the empirical poles. In this article I will not contest this divide from within. I shall not, for instance, claim that sociology is inherently politicised, each epistemology necessarily proposing a different ontology (Blau and Smith, 2006). Considering the problem differently, and referring to a historical period spanning from the late 19th century to about 1980 (Fournier, 1986; Warren, 2003), I propose a three-faceted portrait of sociology. In my view, the discipline is structured around not two but three fundamental axes or dimensions: professional, descriptive, and political, embodying three essential aims. In turn, these constitute the respective roles it can play in academia and society depending on the specific publics it seeks to address. In his much debated ASA 2004 presidential speech, Burawoy (2005a) has claimed that public sociology should be defined by its audience, whether academic (professional, critical) or extra-academic (policy and public). Without directly challenging this view, I intend in this paper to illustrate how the scholar’s individual positioning offers a slightly different perception of public sociology than the discipline’s external dynamics.

The Future Lives of Sociology Graduates

“…The theme of personal resonance, which we suggested explained some of the rise in feminization, might also be at work here in parsing out the Anglophone-Francophone contrast. That is, Francophone sociology has traditionally focused on issues of identity and "distinct society" (Rocher 1970;Warren 2009), issues that were more important among the older cohorts where we saw increases among Francophones with sociology degrees. However, these issues have apparently not galvanized younger Francophones in more recent years, with the result that sociology may have lost some of its appeal as a field of study.…”

Disciplinary Practices As Social Manoeuvers: A Field Theory Alternative To Michael Burawoy’s Typology Of Knowledge

“…This ignores an important contribution of field theory in thinking disciplinary logics, namely that different definitions of disciplinary tasks can compete for legitimacy and dominance (Bourdieu 1975). Disciplinary practices can be situated more adequately when we recognize research universities as fields colonized by scientific networks (Gingras 1991;Gingras and Gemme 2006) and entertaining various relationships with other fields (Fournier 1985;Warren 2009).…”

“…Reframing Fournier (1985) and Warren's (2009) threefold repartition of disciplinary structure allows us to situate 1) intellectual arenas of autonomous knowledge production, 2) institutional arrangements that provide education to students and employment to researchers, and 3) dissemination practices that give meaning to intellectual interventions and expertise. The roles and postures of university professors as identified by Kalleberg (c.f.…”

“…I argue that disciplinary practices can be understood as tasks and postures, as described by Kalleberg (2000;, but that these do not acquire their meaning in the functional "role-set" of academia. Rather, they are manoeu-vers which take shape within and between distinct spheres of action: the scientific field, the university field, and an assortment of extra-academic fields (Bourdieu 1975;Fournier 1985;Gingras and Gemme 2006;Gingras 1991;Warren 2009). The empirical section of this paper then serves to demonstrate how this framework can refine Burawoy's distinctions.…”

From Porter to Bourdieu: The Evolving Specialty Structure of English Canadian Sociology, 1966 to 2014

“…While the debates are clearly about Canada, they tap into longstanding concerns about intellectual coherence in sociology, and its survival and relevance in changing university systems and political climates around the world (Burawoy 2005;e.g., Collins 1986;Connell 2000;Helmes-Hayes and McLaughlin 2009;Smith-Lovin 2000;Wallerstein and Young 1997;Warren 2009). While this research tells us much about specific aspects of English Canadian sociology, we know little about changes in the macrolevel intellectual structure of the discipline, or about the origins and extent of fragmentation. Empirical research on the evolution of intellectual networks of English Canadian sociology would go a long way toward resolving ongoing debates about the current state of affairs in the discipline.…”