Description
Book SynopsisAddresses the question of the public role of the social scientist. This book argues that although political and economic institutions influence the course of academic knowledge, opportunities remain for social scientists to act independently of these constraints, and approach their work as public intellectuals.
Trade ReviewInnovatively and insightfully, Gattone demonstrates that the social scientist's role as a public intellectual has been problematized for centuries. Mining ideas of early savants like Weber and Veblen, he presses forward to recent sociologists like Mills and Bourdieu, all expert examiners of the often-tortured relationships of social scientists to policymakers in eras of increasing bureaucratization. Generally handicapped by enshrining bureaucracies, social scientists at their best do step outside and debunk old societal myths, provide new social knowledge, and shed bright light on regressive cultural practices. An illuminating book with many uses... -- Joe R. Feagin, Texas A&M University
All the chapters are intriguing and well documented. This book stands out for the quality of the overview it offers of the reflections of prominent social scientists on the role of their profession in society. The clarity of Gattone's synthesis also makes this book stand out as an excellent text for readers who are new to the social sciences. * American Journal of Sociology *
Explores what it means to be a public intellectual in the social sciences and how this relates to social research through a study of several famous academics. Discusses knowledge and politics in early modern social thought. * Journal of Economic Literature, December 2006 *
Gattone's arguments seem reasonable and optimistic, without ever overstating the possibilities for sociology in the public realm. Moreover, he is careful to highlight disagreements and divisions concerning the place of personal values in research and how this fundamentally determines differing constructions of the 'public sociologist'. In this sense, this is a text that displays a rich understanding of the ethical dimensions that are involved in public engagement and are at the core of all sociological research. * Sage: British Sociological Association, February 2008 *
The Social Scientist as Public Intellectual presents an original analysis of a unique group of thinkers on a largely ignored topic. Because of its novel combination of parts?connecting sociological theory and sociology of science to address the widely discussed but under theorized topic of the public intellectual?Charles Gattone's book is a significant contribution to the field of sociology. Many graduate students and established scholars seek to change the world through their sociology, and this book provides guidance on how that can be done: it's a meta-theoretical guidebook on becoming a public intellectual... -- Professor Tim Kubal, California State University
The Social Scientist as Public Intellectual presents an original analysis of a unique group of thinkers on a largely ignored topic. Because of its novel combination of parts—connecting sociological theory and sociology of science to address the widely discussed but under theorized topic of the public intellectual—Charles Gattone's book is a significant contribution to the field of sociology. Many graduate students and established scholars seek to change the world through their sociology, and this book provides guidance on how that can be done: it's a meta-theoretical guidebook on becoming a public intellectual. -- Professor Tim Kubal, California State University
Innovatively and insightfully, Gattone demonstrates that the social scientist's role as a public intellectual has been problematized for centuries. Mining ideas of early savants like Weber and Veblen, he presses forward to recent sociologists like Mills and Bourdieu, all expert examiners of the often-tortured relationships of social scientists to policymakers in eras of increasing bureaucratization. Generally handicapped by enshrining bureaucracies, social scientists at their best do step outside and debunk old societal myths, provide new social knowledge, and shed bright light on regressive cultural practices. An illuminating book with many uses. -- Joe R. Feagin, Texas A&M University
Table of Contents1 Introduction 2 Knowledge and Politics in Early Modern Social Thought: Auguste Comte and Henri deRouvroy Saint-Simon 3 Max Weber: Social Science and Politics in the Transition to State Capitalism 4 Thorstein Veblen: The Social Scientist as Innovative Thinker 5 Karl Mannheim and Joseph Schumpeter: Social Science, Intellectuals, and Politics in an Age of Declining Liberalism 6 C. Wright Mills and John Kenneth Galbraith: Institutions, Social Science, and the Role of Intellectuals in the New Industrial State 7 Pierre Bourdieu: Intellectuals, Symbolic Power, and Social Change
