The success of TSP owes a great deal to the rise of public sociology. And no single individual played a bigger role in facilitating that rise than Berkeley sociologist Michael Burawoy who basically invented the term almost a decade ago and then made it the focus of the annual sociology meetings he organized during his presidency of the ASA back in 2004. In recent years, Burawoy has been devoting his considerable energies to another project: that of building a more truly global, international sociology.  To that end Burawoy, now President of the International Sociological Association, has launched a new online publication called “Global Dialogue.”

Global Dialogue, which appears 5 times a year and in 13 languages, is partly a professional newsletter that attempts to keep readers up to-date with events in the ISA, reports on international conferences and meetings, and announcements about journals, that sort of thing.  But Burawoy’s latest brainchild is also something of a journal/magazine. Drawing upon the extraordinary, ongoing research and dedication of editorial teams of sociologists from all over the world, Global Dialogue offers a sociological lens on current events, underlining the relevance of sociological research, writing, and insight to politics, current affairs, and other public debates far beyond the limits of our usual domestic emphasis.  Which brings me, finally, to Sesame Street.

It turns out that the latest issue of GD2.5 has a wonderful little piece from Tamara Kay at Harvard on how Sesame Street has been adopted and adapted in countries and countries around the globe.  In Kay’s skillful, sociological telling, the global distribution of Sesame Street is a story of how American cultural products circulate through transnational channels. It is also about how local cultures transform global cultural objects into legitimate, even authentic local forms.

Talk about timing! Just as American Democrats and Republicans squabble over funding for public television under the guise of Mitt Romney’s tough love stance toward Big Bird, Kay’s article reminds us Americans that even our culture and our politics, our seemingly distinctive and self-contained culture and politics, isn’t just about us. This wasn’t exactly Kay’s point, of course; indeed, she wrote the piece well before the Presidential debates brought the iconic kids show back into the media spotlight. But I have to think this is precisely the kind of international perspective and global lesson Burawoy had in mind in launching this new venture. Rest assured, I think we’ll make a point of keeping up with Global Dialogues in the weeks and months ahead. Maybe you’ll want to as well.