This volume offers an unprecedented account of recent and future developments in the sociology of intellectuals. It presents a critical exchange between two leading contemporary social theorists, Patrick Baert and Simon Susen, advancing debates at the cutting edge of scholarship on the changing role of intellectuals in the increasingly interconnected societies of the twenty-first century. The discussion centres on Baerts most recent contribution to this field of inquiry,The Existentialist Moment: The Rise of Sartre as a Public Intellectual(2015), demonstrating that it has opened up hitherto barely explored avenues for the sociological study of intellectuals. In addition, the authors provide an overview of various alternative approaches that are available for understanding the sociology of intellectuals such as those of Pierre Bourdieu, Randall Collins, and Neil Gross. In doing so, they grapple with the question of the extent to which intellectuals canplay a constructive role in influencing social and political developments in the modern era. This insightful volume will appeal to students and scholars of the humanities and social sciences, particularly to those interested in social theory and the history of intellectual thought.

Simon Susen is Reader in Sociology at City, University of London, UK. Among his recent publications arePierre Bourdieu et la distinction sociale. Un essai philosophique (2016),The Postmodern Turn in the Social Sciences (2015), andThe Foundations of the Social: Between Critical Theory and Reflexive Sociology (2007). He is Associate Member of the Bauman Institute and, together with Bryan S. Turner, Editor of theJournal of Classical Sociology.

Patrick Baert is Professor of Social Theory at the University of Cambridge, UK. Among his recent books areThe Existentialist Moment: The Rise of Sartre as a Public Intellectual (2015),Conflict in the Academy: A Study in the Sociology of Intellectuals(with Marcus Morgan, 2015), andSocial Theory in the Twentieth Century and Beyond (with Filipe Carreira da Silva, 2010). He is the Editor-in-Chief of theInternational Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society.

Introduction: Key Issues in the Sociology of Intellectuals; Simon Susen and Patrick Baert.- Chapter 1: Reflections on Patrick BaertsThe Existentialist Moment: The Rise of Sartre as a Public Intellectual; Simon Susen.- Chapter 2: The Existentialist Moment Defended: A Reply to Simon Susen; Patrick Baert.