Abstract
‘Critical sociology’ is often synonymous for a close affinity with Marx. It is used as a self-identifying label for sociologists who still read the likes of Adorno, Marcuse or Fraser. It distinguishes a type of sociology in which the bellwether for good research is whether it draws attention to social problems and social inequities, to violence, destruction, and domination. None of these, however, really does justice to critical sociology. They do not really mark its position in the field nor explain how sociology can even be a critical endeavor and still remain sociology. They do not distinguish critical sociology from critical theory, or make it more substantive than a catchy label, or give it the vitality of an intellectual method. They do not disambiguate ‘critical sociology.’ Rather, they leave it still more ambiguous.