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Public sociology is being debated across the social sciences. This article examines how sociologists can enter concretely into a civic conversation through the research process. We present partial findings from a Canada-wide investigation into how city street video surveillance systems are implemented in various communities. Our aim is to examine some of the challenges of doing public sociology by examining sociological knowledge production and communication with diverse publics. Data gleaned from focused group interviews in the City of Kelowna, British Columbia are presented to explore the challenges of facilitating a civic conversation about public policy on city street video surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much discussion surrounding Burawoy's (2004; 2005) argument for public sociology has focused on concerns about the model's normative and political implications while failing to empirically analyze current practices of public academic work. The debate thus risks devolving into competing rhetorical claims about what public sociology should be. We offer a preliminary comparative analysis of one type of public academic work — the writing of books — by sociologists, political scientists, and economists in Canada. In the hope of encouraging more empirical research on the current status of public academic work in Canada, books are put into one of six categories determined on the basis of 1) the publisher's characteristics; 2) the book's intended audience; and 3) the book's intended intellectual/political purpose. We find that sociology lags behind political science in producing books intended for a public audience; however, other evidence suggests Canadian sociologists are attempting to open a public dialogue in a more "organic" way through small presses. Questions are raised about the status and rewards structure of professional sociology in Canada and how it influences public academic work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we take up the debate about public sociologies by drawing on critical feminist sociology in Canada. While we applaud Burawoy's efforts to contextualize US sociology and to embrace engagement with various publics, we discuss four limitations of his model. First, it does not adequately reflect the practice of feminist research that is interdisciplinary and simultaneously professional, critical, policy, and public sociology. Second, it does not take into account feminist methodology as an integrative form of sociology. Third, it does not sufficiently provincialize US sociology nor address how American "professional" sociology can operate as a threat rather than a standard-bearer in Canada. Fourth, it requires more concrete examples of public sociology and how it is undertaken in specific situations. We briefly discuss our research to illustrate "organic" public sociology in the Canadian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]