Public Sociology, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet

Abstract

Public sociology is neither public nor sociology. Public sociology does not and cannot have an epistemology. Speaking only for and to itself, public sociology has no public. There is no debate with public sociology. Instead, public sociology has been successfully advertised and widely embraced among sociologists. Public sociology has consumers. Public sociology is the fast-food of social science. The influence of public sociology is visible and real as it has been institutionalized in various ways. I analyze the conditions of the institutionalization of public sociology and critically evaluate its dynamics and consequences.