Public Sociology: From Social Facts to Literary Acts / Edition 2

by Ben Agger

Overview

Public Sociology, 2nd edition offers a fundamental enriching of method far beyond the scope of research methodology textbooks. It looks at sociology as a social act-as writing-in arguing for a public sociology that can more fully embrace and address crucial public issues. Building on the philosophy of science and recent postmodernist critiques, Agger shows how the social science text reproduces the existing social world, suppressing science's author in order to position itself as simply a mirror of nature, not a deliberate human version replete with ontology, theory, values, and politics. As such, method is an argument that polemicizes quietly for a certain view of the world. Agger peruses how science could be crafted differently, acknowledging, even embracing its authoriality while opening it to crosscurrents of other humanistic writing. Only by liberating sociology from the "secret writing" of science can its ineradicable humanity be realized. But rather than dwelling on recent critiques, this, more than any other book, looks ahead to a new way of doing science-one that is simultaneously more scientific and humanistic. Its prescient view of how social science can take the lead in building a more democratic public sphere will make it a must-read for every student and researcher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742541061
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/06/2007
Series:	New Social Formations Series
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.07(w) x 9.07(h) x 0.98(d)

About the Author

Ben Agger (1952–2015) was professor of sociology and humanities at the University of Texas at Arlington. He also directed the Center for Theory and edited the electronic journal Fast Capitalism (www.fastcapitalism.com). Among his recent books are Postponing the Postmodern, Speeding Up Fast Capitalism, Fast Families, and Virtual Children (with Beth Anne Shelton).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Sociology as Secret Writing: Lessons from Postmodernism
Chapter 3 Learning Discipline Discursively
Chapter 4 Beginning Science
Chapter 5 Method as the Main Text
Chapter 6 Concluding Science
Chapter 7 "Maybe the Reviewer is Just Dense": Review and Revision as Argument
Chapter 8 Was Sociology Always Like This?
Chapter 9 Sociological Writing in the Wake of Postmodernism
Chapter 10 Has Mainstream Sociology Gone Public?

What People are Saying About This

Norman K. Denzin

In the tradition of C. Wright Mills, Agger creates a space for a living, breathing, literary sociology that will make a difference in the world of human affairs.

Feagin

Do not miss the work of Ben Agger, one of the nation's intellectual treasures. Provocative and original, Agger probes and skewers the meat of a sociology turned rancid. While many critical sociologists still research major issues - racism, classism, and sexism - they are often forced to the margins of a field trying too hard to be a "hard science" discipline.
—Joe Feagin, author of White Racism

Editorial Reviews

Ben Agger asks many important questions about the promise of sociology in an era of cold facts and hard convictions. They are questions that younger sociologists in particular ought to be asking of themselves and of the discipline in which they make an intellectual home. Sociology could become the first true science of pluralism if those within it acknowledge and resist the strongest of the ideological winds blowing in all directions. The new material in this edition, particularly Agger's narrative account of the ASA coming to terms with "public" sociology, is timely and a permanent reminder that the profession's fate is tied directly to its leadership.

Jonathan B. Imber

Ben Agger asks many important questions about the promise of sociology in an era of cold facts and hard convictions. They are questions that younger sociologists in particular ought to be asking of themselves and of the discipline in which they make an intellectual home. Sociology could become the first true science of pluralism if those within it acknowledge and resist the strongest of the ideological winds blowing in all directions. The new material in this edition, particularly Agger's narrative account of the ASA coming to terms with "public" sociology, is timely and a permanent reminder that the profession's fate is tied directly to its leadership.--Jonathan B. Imber, Wellesley College

From the Publisher

Not only does Agger exorcise the living ghosts who write sociology and regulate its institutional network, he lays bare for all to see, the carefully hidden secrets of the discipline. Such an analysis offers a bold critique of those of us who practice sociology professionally. It forces us to face up to and figure out what is important and unimportant in what we do.
Those not enraged by this book will laugh themselves silly, when, like us, they are not choking back the tears of their own embarrassment.
— Charles Lemert and Audrey Sprenger

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