Industrial Sociology -- End of Debate Doesn't Mean End of Crisis

This article links to M.R. Lepsius' statement about sociology being an "institutionalized permanent crisis." Referring to his suggestion it is argued here that the debate about the crisis of industrial sociology requires to be taken seriously even though the profession has just declared its end. Hinting at that the successful institutionalization of industrial sociology & its capacity to adjust its subject area -- as H. Minssen has just recently done -- does not suffice to declare the debate void. This debate about the critical state of industrial sociology draws attention to the state of the discipline as a whole -- especially sociology's alarmingly small resonance in public discourse. This lack of impact is partly due to the complacency & narrowed down focus of many in the profession, who do not see the need for multidisciplinary approaches & do not value the benefits of problem -- and application -- oriented research. An alternative approach requires sociologists to develop a form of dual professionalism: researchers in the field of industrial sociology must try to systematically link their work to sociology's broader academic discourse. They also need to develop a second form of professionalism, ie, one that improves their capacity to provide expert advice of a practical relevance to actors in different social fields. Only such an orientation acknowledges the centrality of individual's agency to societal change. This orientation is required in order to improve the state of the profession, which has been criticized by M.R. Lepsius for its self-content, its routine approaches & its dual incapacity to use established, robust concepts & develop new ones. Sociology seems to dither between a belief in "academic freedom" & arbitrariness. In a times of far reaching & drastic societal change sociology needs to systematically relate to socio-political discourse in order to fulfill the function it has been ascribed to by H. Plessner: to be a ferment of criticism & a tool for freedom in an open society. References. Adapted from the source document.