• Sociology’s Moments
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Sociology’s Moments

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What is the role of sociology when universities are under increasing political criticism? This book explores how sociology has developed through different moments of social and political change.The author traces the discipline through early ideas...
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  • 06 April 2027
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What is the role of sociology when universities are under increasing political criticism?

This book explores how sociology has developed through different moments of social and political change.The author traces the discipline through early ideas of social reform and the social self, the rise of the welfare state and professional social science, and the growth of new social movements that expanded democratic life and subjected sociology itself to criticism. He then turns to the present, which is shaped by neoliberal reforms on higher education, to ask what sociology can and should become in the future.

Bringing together history and reflection, the book offers a clear and critical account of sociology’s changing place in democracy and public life.

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Price: $127.95
Pages: 192
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Imprint: Bristol University Press
Series: Public Sociology
Publication Date: 06 April 2027
ISBN: 9781529260120
Format: Hardcover
BISACs: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, Sociology, EDUCATION / Educational Policy & Reform / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Conservatism & Liberalism, Politics and government, Social welfare, social policy and social services, Right-of-centre democratic ideologies and movements, Human rights, civil rights, Populism / populist ideologies and movements
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'This brilliant book traces the entangled histories of sociology, the public university and democratic knowledge production. Examining key moments in the evolution of the discipline, Holmwood not only defends sociology, but argues that it has a vital role to play in the future survival of plural democracies.' Imogen Tyler, University of Lancaster

'Holmwood’s timely, thoughtful, provocative and richly contextualized book compels us to consider the complex connections between universities, democracy and markets in the US and UK. A must read for anyone interested in understanding power structures, processes, relationships and the implications for the future of sociology.' Margaret Abraham, Hofstra University
John Holmwood is Senior Researcher in the Centre for Science Technology and Society Studies at the Czech Academy of Science and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham.

1. Setting the Scene

2. Pragmatism’s Moment: Sociology, the Social Self and Social Reform

3. Professionalism’s Moment: Sociology, Citizenship and the Welfare State

4. Radicalism’s Moment: Sociology as Critique

5. Neo-Liberalism’s Moment: A New Political Economy of Higher Education

Conclusion: After the Public University

Biographical Essay