This article analyzes the debate on public sociology, launched in 2004 by Michael Burawoy, former president of the American Sociological Association. Besides discussing Burawoy's main ideas and the criticism raised from his opponents, we specifically question the opposition between professional and public sociologies. In order to do so, we initially provide a reinterpretation of the history of sociology in the US. We claim that Burawoy's perspective on this history is what explains the dualism mentioned above. Then, we address the idea of public sociology from the perspective of the discipline in Brazil. Our main hypothesis is that a case-study from a peripheral country may shed light on different forms of conceiving the public dimension in sociology thus contributing to broaden the theoretical debate on the subject.
Public Sociology; Michael Burawoy; History of Sociology; Brazilian Sociology; Periphery