Giddens on the demise and rise of sociology

Anthony Giddens has an article on the Guardian blog today, asking the question - why is sociology not closer to the centre of public debate? He argues that the rise of free market thinking and the demise of utopian politics are two prominent reasons. The solution may look as follows:

The answer for me is a return to the style of thinking that originally drove the sociological enterprise. A little bit more utopian thinking might help too - well, why not? Politics in some ways has become deadly dull. We need more positive ideals in the world, but not empty ones - rather, they should be ideals that link to realistic possibilities of change. Most of all, though, we need to confront the big problems that face us, and provide a field of debate for helping us understand them better.

Pod-cast of joint NYLON - Young Foundation seminar

On Friday afternoon, we held a joint NYLON -Young Foundation seminar in London, entitled 'Sociology in the Public Sphere: What role should it play?'. The discussion began with contributions from Richard Sennett and Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation (more on him here), and was chaired by me.

You can listen to the various bits of the seminar below:
- Geoff Mulgan (15 mins, 4mb)
- Richard Sennett (10 mins, 3mb)
- Exchange between Geoff and Richard (7 mins, 2mb)
- Discussion first half (40 mins, 11mb)
- Discussion second half (31 mins, 9mb)
- Closing summary (2.5 mins, .7mb)

Any participants (or non-participants) who would like to continue the debate, please do so in the comments below.