Academic sociology has been stifled by ideological capture. To restore its credibility, I advocate for the kind of external intervention once undertaken in Denmark. In 1986, the Danish government closed the University of Copenhagen’s sociology departments after finding them irreparably compromised by neo-Marxist activism. Rebuilt in the 1990s, Danish sociology now enjoys international distinction. This precedent suggests that academic freedom can be legitimately curtailed when its abuse undermines a discipline’s scientific integrity. Drawing analogies to other institutions that enjoy wide autonomy but face intervention when trust is violated, I argue that higher education should not be exempt. In American sociology, critics have long observed that the discipline operates less as an impartial science than as an instrument of progressive activism. Examples include the treatment of politically inconvenient findings, such as Mark Regnerus’s contested study of same-sex parenting, contrasted with leniency toward outright misconduct when it supports fashionable narratives. Research agendas on crime, gender, and race display systematic blind spots, privileging ideologically charged explanations while marginalizing alternative perspectives. As enrollments decline and sociology ranks among the “most regretted” majors, the discipline risks further irrelevance. Drawing inspiration from the Danish model, I call for reforms grounded not in partisan retaliation but in the principles of open science, intellectual pluralism, and Mertonian norms. Competitive grants, heterodox research centers, and independent advisory boards can help realign sociology with its mission: the rigorous and impartial study of social life.
——-
more.