What does it mean to be a scholar today, when democratic institutions are under siege and expertise is under attack? This volume brings together, for the first time, the personal stories and methodological reflections of twenty leading European scholar-practitioners who have chosen – sometimes at real professional cost – to engage beyond the walls of academia. Coming from law, political science, management, geography, and sociology, working across a dozen European countries, they share a common trajectory: the moment at which conventional scholarly practice proved insufficient. The volume names this practice 'public scholarship,' and extracts from it a grammar capable of being studied, taught, and institutionalised. It addresses the questions that matter most: What motivates public engagement? What methods work? How should impact be measured? And how can this practice be built without losing its transformative potential?

‘Public Scholarship is a refreshing and timely account of how scholars apply their knowledge and commit their time to important public issues. The personal stories the contributors tell bring the tensions and paradoxes of this work vividly to life, raising important questions for anyone thinking about the role of the university in a democracy.’

Anne-Marie Slaughter - Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University