Identity crisis? Problems and issues in the sociology of education

This article looks at the recent history of the sociology of education and draws lessons about the future from that review. Beginning with a considera tion of the reorientation sociology of education in a hostile political con text, it analyses recent official attacks on sociologically-informed resear ch in education. This paper locates this reorientation in the changing rela tionship between sociologists of education and policy-makers since the 1960 s. In so doing. it documents briefly the shift toward neo-Marxist critiques of education as a vehicle for maintaining and sustaining inequality,and th e subsequent dismissal of sociology of education by policy-makers. The ways in which theoretical debates within the main discipline have affected the direction of work in the sub-discipline are also considered. Finally, we ex plore the possibilities for sustaining and supporting sociology of educatio n as a key arena for th maintenance of a narrative of modernity while accom modating more recent movement towards a recognition of complexity, continge ncy and subjectivity.