Andries Bezuidenhout is Professor of Development Studies at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa. Sonwabile Mnwana is Professor of Development Studies in the Department of Sociology at Rhodes University, South Africa. Karl von Holdt is Professor and former Director of the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Drawing from sociology, South African politics and labour studies, this volume provides a much-needed and inspirational account of what sociology could and should be. This is an essential history and practice that must be remembered and kept alive in global disciplinary forums.” Nandini Sundar, Delhi University

• 1. Critical Engagement in South Africa and the Global South: An Introduction - Andries Bezuidenhout, Sonwabile Mnwana and Karl von Holdt2. Critical Engagement and SWOP’s Changing Research Tradition - Andries Bezuidenhout and Karl von Holdt3. Choosing Sides: The Promise and Pitfalls of a Critically Engaged Sociology in Apartheid South Africa - Edward Webster4. The Decline of Labour Studies and the Democratic Transition - Sakhela Buhlungu5. From ‘Critical Engagement’ to ‘Public Sociology’ and Back: A Critique from the South - Karl von Holdt6. The Antinomies and Opportunities of Critical Engagement in South Africa’s Rural Mining Frontier - Sonwabile Mnwana7. Sociological Engagement with the Struggle for a Just Transition in South Africa - Jacklyn Cock8. Feminist Participatory Action Research in African Sex Work Studies - Ntokozo Yingwana9. Participatory Action Research for Food Justice in Johannesburg: Seeking a More Immediate Impact for Engaged Research - Brittany Kesselman10. Dilemmas and Issues Confronting Socially Engaged Research within Universities - Aninka Claassens and Nokwanda Sihlali11. Experiences of Meetings and Cooperation between Academics and Unions: The Work Studies Group from the South (GETSUR) - Dasten Julián Vejar12. Critically Engaging Public Sociology in Turkey and 'Sociology across the South' - Ercüment Çelik13. Reflections on Critical Engagement - Michael Burawoy14 Conclusion: Towards a Southern Sociology - Karl von Holdt