As a mirror and conscience of society, sociology defines, promotes and informs public debate about class and racial inequalities, new gender regimes, environmental degradation, multiculturalism, technological revolutions, market fundamentalism, and state and non-state violence. More than ever the world needs public sociologies – sociologies that transcend the academy and engage wider audiences. Our potential publics are multiple, ranging from media audiences to policy makers, from think tanks to NGOs, from silenced minorities to social movements. Teaching is central to public sociology: students are our first public for they carry sociology into all walks of life. Academic sociology also needs the world. In stimulating debate about issues of the day, public sociologies inspire and revitalize our own discipline as it also connects us to other disciplines. While public sociologies charge the academy with mission and zeal, our professional competencies in theory and research give legitimacy, direction and substance to public sociologies.

Today, public sociologies face four daunting challenges.

* To defend the very idea of the public, increasingly threatened by privatization programs, multinational firms, mass media, unfettered commerce, and national security regimes.



* To harness sociology’s longstanding critical imagination, reminding us that the world could be different. As they turn private troubles into public issues, public sociologies should challenge the world as we know it, exposing the gap between what is and what could be.



* To be inclusive and democratic, building bridges open to all and without tolls, bridges that connect multiple communities within and outside sociology.



* To recognize, learn from, and engage with public sociologies in different countries. We should build bridges that span the world—level bridges with two-way traffic.