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What Kind of ‘Ology’? Two Cultures and the Success of British Sociology

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The History of Sociology in Britain

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Abstract

Sociology in Britain flourishes. It does so as a radical discipline that is as happy to embrace revolution as reform, happier to deny that science exists than to claim to be scientific, and to shun any cumulative knowledge base or any consensus definition of its activities. However, the logic of much sociological thought is far more consonant with contemporary society than its radical reputation might lead us to expect. Some of its concepts and forms of argument unwittingly passively reflect major currents of contemporary ideology. A discipline with little interest in the systematic treatment of empirical evidence may nevertheless equip its practitioners with eminently transferrable skills in spin, the management and pseudo-resolution of all kinds of social issues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    John MacInnes

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  1. John MacInnes
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Correspondence to John MacInnes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Plamena Panayotova

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MacInnes, J. (2019). What Kind of ‘Ology’? Two Cultures and the Success of British Sociology. In: Panayotova, P. (eds) The History of Sociology in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19929-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19929-6_13

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19928-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19929-6

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