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Sociology and the Public Agenda
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Sociology and the Public Agenda

Edited by:
  • William Julius Wilson - Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, USA, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA


March 1993 | 391 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Published in Cooperation with the American Sociological Society Sociology has had a long and convoluted relationship with the public policy community. While the field has historically considered its mission one of effecting social change, in recent decades this has become only a minor part of the sociological agenda. The editor of this volume, MacArthur Fellow and former ASA President William Julius Wilson, asserts that sociology's ostrich-like stance threatens to leave the discipline in a position of irrelevance to the world at large and compromises the support of policymakers, funders, media, and the public. Wilson's vision is of a sociology attuned to the public agenda, influencing public policy through both short and long-range analysis from a sociological perspective. Using a variety of policy issues, perspectives, methods, and cases, the distinguished contributors to this volume both demonstrate and emphasize Wilson's ideas. Undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, and academics in sociology, political science, policy studies, and human services will find this argument for sociology's civic duty to be both compelling and refreshing. "The eighteen chapters on issues ranging from cultural and historical definitions of citizenship to American welfare policies and American corporate mergers are strong examples of solid social research, where authors draw out policy implications and, based on their research, make policy proposals. . . . Sociology and the Public Agenda is an insightful book for scholars of social policy, and also those interested in research design issues. The book is very relevant for political scientists engaged in policy research, interested in innovative research designs, and wondering about the 'place' of the social scientist in setting public agendas." -Policy Currents

 
INTRODUCTION
SOCIOLOGY, SOCIAL SCIENCE, AND THE PUBLIC POLICY AGENDA

 
William Julius Wilson
Can Sociology Play a Greater Role in Shaping the National Agenda?
Carol H Weiss
The Interaction of the Sociological Agenda and Public Policy
John W Kingdon
How Do Issues Get on Public Policy Agendas?
Steven Brint
The Powers and the Intellectuals
Benchmark Texts and Changing Conditions

 
 
PART ONE: THE POLITICS OF CITIZENSHIP
Rogers Brubaker
Migrants Into Citizens? Traditions of Nationhood and Politics of Citizenship in France and Germany
J Donald Moon
Citizenship and Welfare
Social Democratic and Liberal Perspectives

 
Roger Lawson
`Social Citizenship', Work and Social Solidarity
Historical Comparisons Between Britain and Sweden

 
 
PART TWO: ORGANIZATIONS, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND PUBLIC POLICY
Philippe C Schmitter
Organizations as (Secondary) Citizens
David Knoke
Networks as Political Glue
Explaining Public Policy-Making

 
Neil Fligstein and Linda Markowitz
Financial Reorganization of American Corporations in the 1980s
Anne Wortham
The Conservative Revolution That Wasn't
New Right Populism and the Preservation of New Deal Liberalism

 
 
PART THREE: THE PUBLIC AGENDA: ADDRESSING HIGH PRIORITY SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Frank F Furstenberg Jr
How Families Manage Risk and Opportunity in Dangerous Neighborhoods
Robert J Sampson
The Community Context of Violent Crime
Peter H Rossi
The Politics of Homelessness
James P Comer
Inner-City Education
A Theoretical and Intervention Model

 
Roberta M Spalter-Roth, Heidi I Hartmann and Linda M Andrews
Mothers, Children, and Low-Wage Work
The Ability to Earn a Family Wage

 
 
PART FOUR: ISSUES FOR THE PUBLIC AGENDA
Barbara R Bergmann
The French Child Welfare System
An Excellent System We Could Adapt and Afford

 
Philip Harvey
Employment as a Human Right

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