Drifting Apart? The Institutional Dynamics Awaiting Public Sociology in Canada

Michael Burawoy offers an innovative call to re-integrate our discipline. Using Canada as an example, I argue that his proposal underestimates the extent of institutional separatism among branches of sociology. Influenced by anti-positivist currents in the humanities over the past two decades, critical sociologists are disconnecting from mainstream empirical research. Simultaneously, the mainstream is moving in a very different direction as it responds to developments in other social sciences, and largely ignores the humanities. I hypothesize that this institutional drift is limiting the possibility of mutual correction between various branches of sociology, a process that is central to Burawoy’s proposal. Possible scenarios for the future of public sociology in Canada are discussed in light of this hypothesis

Drifting Apart? The Institutional Dynamics Awaiting Public Sociology in Canada Journal Articles