Michael Burawoy’s advocacy of ‘public sociology’ in his 2004 Presidential Address to the American Sociological Association has sparked a range of responses within the USA and internationally (Burawoy, 1984a). In this paper we provide an appreciative reading of aspects of the case for ’public sociology’ and consider the relationship between his imaginings about this aspect of sociological practice and our own experiences as professional sociologists with long-term interests in taking sociological skills, value frameworks and theoretical understandings into forms of engagement outside the academy. We conclude with some critical reflections on some of Burawoy’s recent attempts to articulate the responsibility of sociologists vis a vis ‘society’.