Sociologists Making Change: Public Engagement for Social Justice

Many sociologists enter their discipline motivated to make a living doing intellectual labor in a way that also will make the world a more just place, only to find that academic institutional constraints routinely impede their pursuit of that original goal. Sociologists Making Change gathers more than a dozen examples of the real-world activism of US sociologists, who confront those constraints and get involved in political and social change efforts in addition to their conventional teaching and academic research. This volume provides a resource for sociologists aiming to enter, stay on, or get back onto a path of public engagement. Without imposing a singular vision of how to follow that path, the editors and contributors illuminate a variety of ways to pursue change-oriented sociology. While such publicly engaged sociology is not a requisite role for every sociologist, it is consistent with a long sociological tradition. In this time and in the foreseeable future, the book argues, both the public and sociology as a discipline could benefit from research, teaching, and activism that aims to make a difference. Sociologists Making Change offers a path for sociologists collectively to build better public visibility in ways that make the discipline better understood and more valued in the public mind.