Concepts of “Applied and Public Sociology”: Arguments for a Bigger Theoretical Picture around the Idea of a “University Third Mission”

The argument focuses on current concepts of “applied” and “public” sociology proposed especially by the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) and by Michael Burawoy within the American Sociological Association (ASA) in 2004, respectively. A broader concept of “engaged scholarship” is proposed by the author which spans many academic disciplines and fields, that is, can encompass a “bigger picture,” unlike applied or public sociology with their limited sociological focus. The idea of engaged scholarship is linked also to a core set of interrelated “bigger” concepts: (1) use-inspired basic research, (2) university third mission (of socio-economic-cultural development), (3) post-1970s third capitalist industrial revolution (with university role in a knowledge economy as fundamental), and (4) quadruple helix of university-industry-government-civil society (U-I-G-CS) research relations of engagement. The latter four core concepts are examined in some detail to support a bigger-picture framework. Also highlighted are some ambiguities or inconsistencies embedded in the current use of applied and public sociology terminology, especially with reference to how and with whom university engagement is advocated. In the section “Conclusion,” the idea of a social justice-centered mode of engaged scholarship is explored, providing an explicitly value-laden component that is only implicit within current concepts of applied and public sociology.