The rationale of the book

The main aim of this edited collection is to critically investigate the different ways in which the theory and practice of public engagement can be applied to the social sciences. More specifically, it is based upon a series of café shop talks entitled Social Science in the City™ that have been taking place in Bristol since 2010. The term ‘public engagement’ in its broadest sense refers to a participatory model of consultation and policy implementation that, although relatively recent (the language of public engagement only became widespread in the late 1990s), can be seen as part of the broader process of disseminated governance that took hold in the 1970s, above all, in relation to public sector restructuring. By way of exploring the value of public engagement from a broader social-scientific perspective, a range of substantive topics affecting people in everyday life have been presented to the public. The aim has been to generate debate and to encourage individuals to think about critical social issues encountered in their everyday life, either as professionals or as citizens concerned about the world around them.

The structure of the book

Part One of the book, The meaning of public engagement, is a general introduction both to the conceptual issues around public engagement and to the social science café. The introduction sets out the political and social context for taking social science out of the university campus and into a café environment and aims to contextualise the opportunities and challenges of a project based upon the principles of public engagement. Reference is also made in this context to the broader café scientifique movement and its application to the social sciences. The involvement of the different actors in the Social Science in the City project, café owner, academics and participants is outlined. The concept of public engagement as this applies to statutory services, social movements and higher education is outlined and contrasted. What is distinctive about public engagement in higher education as a form of participation and what changes in higher education have prompted the use of public engagement as an institutional strategy at a time of rapid policy change? The introduction also outlines the key concepts of public sociology and engaged research.