Duke University Press - The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences

Subjects
Science and Technology Studies > Philosophy of Science, Sociology > Social Theory

The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences provides a remarkable comparative assessment of the variations of positivism and alternative epistemologies in the contemporary human sciences. Often declared obsolete, positivism is alive and well in a number of the fields; in others, its influence is significantly diminished. The essays in this collection investigate its mutations in form and degree across the social science disciplines. Looking at methodological assumptions field by field, individual essays address anthropology, area studies, economics, history, the philosophy of science, political science and political theory, and sociology. Essayists trace disciplinary developments through the long twentieth century, focusing on the decades since World War II.

Contributors explore and contrast some of the major alternatives to positivist epistemologies, including Marxism, psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, narrative theory, and actor-network theory. Almost all the essays are written by well-known practitioners of the fields discussed. Some essayists approach positivism and anti-positivism via close readings of texts influential in their respective disciplines. Some engage in ethnographies of the present-day human sciences; others are more historical in method. All of them critique contemporary social scientific practice. Together, they trace a trajectory of thought and method running from the past through the present and pointing toward possible futures.

Contributors. Andrew Abbott, Daniel Breslau, Michael Burawoy, Andrew Collier , Michael Dutton, Geoff Eley, Anthony Elliott, Stephen Engelmann, Sandra Harding, Emily Hauptmann, Webb Keane, Tony Lawson, Sophia Mihic, Philip Mirowski, Timothy Mitchell, William H. Sewell Jr., Margaret R. Somers, George Steinmetz, Elizabeth Wingrove

“The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences is an extraordinary book. It is extraordinary for the sheer amount of intellectual ground covered in the individual chapters and for its significance.” — Marion Fourcade, Social Science History

“The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences offers a fascinating set of inquiries into the shifting foundations of epistemological practice within the social sciences. . . . [I]t remains a significant accomplishment to have brought together such consistently interesting metatheoretical reflections on the full range of social-science disciplines. . . . [E]xceptionally stimulating. . . .” — William Sites, Social Service Review

“Steinmetz’s contributors usefully illustrate current debates, and, more importantly, they point to an emergent consensus within much of the social sciences. They sketch out a possible route for the future of the social sciences.” — Anthony King, Philosophy of the Social Sciences

“The individual essays are informed, insightful, and often provocative. . . . [T]he volume offers a window on methodological practices and trends in neighboring disciplines that often confounds, or at least complicates, widely held stereotypes. . . . [Steinmetz’s essay] is a very impressive and thought-provoking essay. . .” — Val Burris, Social Science History

“The volume makes clear the need for systematic comparative historical studies of the social sciences, without providing this. It offers critiques of contemporary practices, and critiques of those critiques. . . . [I]t contains much that is worth reading.”
— Roger E. Backhouse, History of Political Economy

“This wide-ranging collection of essays explores the remarkable reach and extraordinary career of positivism in the human sciences while simultaneously considering alternative epistemologies.” — Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

“By contrasting the diverse trajectories and strategies of positivist method within each discipline, The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences develops a comparative perspective which has been lacking in virtually all prior treatments of positivism in social science. The contrasts in the form and prestige that positivist method assumed in each discipline are striking.” — Craig Calhoun, President of the Social Science Research Council

“George Steinmetz and his colleagues present provocative perspectives on the politics of knowledge in the human sciences. Magisterial overviews jostle with unsettling manifestos in this comprehensive and challenging collection. The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences is a necessary prolegomenon to any future epistemological debate.” — John Lie, Class of 1959 Professor and Dean of International and Area Studies, University of California, Berkeley