Interpretivism in Motion

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-93
Author(s):  
Vivien A. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Methodological Pluralism ◽  
Discursive Institutionalism ◽  
Cognitive Beliefs ◽  
Interpretative Approach ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
Normative Value

Vivienne Schmidt discusses the Rudolph’s development of their interpretative approach in the context of the spirited debates about epistemology and social science inquiry. She builds upon the Rudolphs’ approach to elaborate ‘discursive institutionalism’, a mode of analysis that theorizes the nature of discourse and how discursive exchange contributes to political action and institutional change. Schmidt’s chapter advances beyond most discursive analyses by theorizing ‘ideational power’, or the capacity of actors to use ideas to: influence other actors’ normative and cognitive beliefs; control the meaning and normative value of ideas; and structure discourse by controlling its agenda. Ultimately, Schmidt makes a cogent case for methodological pluralism in the study of ideas, one that can engage and even synthesize a range of analytical approaches.

scholarly journals Comparative Area Studies and the Study of the Global South

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-287
Author(s):  
Rudra Sil ◽  
Ariel I. Ahram
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Global South ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Area Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Range Theory ◽  
Sub Saharan

Comparative Area Studies (CAS) offers a template to bring the Global South back into the foreground of social science inquiry. CAS urges researchers to grapple directly with empirical variations derived from across the seemingly different global regions. CAS offers three comparative modes: intra-regional, cross-regional, and trans-regional. A number of scholars have used CAS’s comparative rubrics, even without knowing about the wider CAS agenda and program. CAS unsettles assumptions about discrete, fixed “regional” or civilizational blocks as well as about nomothetic theory-building aimed at universal or general laws. At the same time, CAS engages in the idea of medium-range theory-building, focusing empirical rigor and induction in order to create concepts and analyses that are portable yet contextualized. These macro-historical theories must be attentive to spatial and temporal variation in the social world. Claims of universalism are suspect. For the study of the Global South, in particular, CAS provides a path for aggregating and leveraging the wide range of observations and interpretations area specialists have to offer on regions as diverse as South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. CAS thus changes the division of labor within social science to allow greater input for scholarship derived from and originating in the developing world.

Land Degradation in the Peruvian Amazon: Applying GIS in Human Ecology Research

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
William M. Loker
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
The Social

Land degradation, a reduction in the productive capacity of land, is a process of increasing concern in the challenge to maintain and enhance global food production. It is an especially critical problem in developing countries faced with the need to increase food availability for growing populations. Billions of dollars are invested in agricultural research and development aimed at increasing the food supply. At the same time, land degradation threatens to reduce production in large areas of agricultural land. While estimates of the magnitude of the problem vary widely (see WCED 1987; WRI/IIED 1988; and Lal and Stewart 1990 for recent reviews), there is a growing consensus that land degradation is a serious and complex problem that merits increased attention from both natural and social scientists. A recent review of this topic by Blaikie and Brookfield (1987) highlights the role of the social sciences in studying land degradation problems. According to these authors, the term “land degradation” refers to a reduction in the actual or potential uses of land due to human activities (1987: 1). The costs of land degradation (“the product of work on degraded lands is less than that on the same land without degradation”) make it a serious social problem for millions of farmers around the world and thus a priority for social science inquiry. A central actor for understanding the causes and consequences of land degradation is the land manager—most often the farmer—who makes the landuse decisions for particular plots of land. Social science has a key role in understanding this process of decision making, including the social and ecological contexts in which decisions are carried out. Anthropology’s emphasis on working with peasants, small farmers, and indigenous people holds out the promise for important empirical and theoretical contributions in understanding land degradation. A human ecology approach that focuses on the adaptive strategies of individuals and groups and the environmental consequences of these behaviors seems particularly well placed to contribute to this topic.

scholarly journals Explanations of Institutional Change: Reflecting on a “Missing Diagonal”

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHANNES GERSCHEWSKI
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Time Horizon ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Critical Junctures

Previous research on institutional change has concentrated on two types of explanations. On one hand, the dualism of path dependency and critical junctures has advanced our understanding of how institutional change occurs due to sudden exogenous shocks. On the other hand, more recent critiques have established a better understanding of endogenous, gradual change. This article is motivated by observations that current research tends to overlook what I call the “missing diagonal.” I argue that we need to disentangle the sources of a cause (exogenous vs. endogenous) from its time horizon (sudden vs. gradual). By cross-tabulating these two dimensions, the proposed typology of institutional change explanations is able to capture complex multilayered as well as sequential arguments of institutional change. The typology urges scholars to be more precise with their social science language of erosion and decay, while serving as a generator for an innovative research agenda on endogenous ruptures.

Political Regime and Economic Actors: The Response of Firms to the End of Colonial Rule

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Kahler
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Political Perceptions ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between economic system and political regime has recently reemerged as a central issue in social science. An examination of the political perceptions and actions of individual firms and of sectors during the uncertainties of decolonization permits a new approach to this question, using the concept of political exposure. The firm or sector characteristics that are associated with greater political exposure are assessed. Political preferences cannot be equated with either political action or outcomes, however. The links between capitalism and political regime require further refinement and qualification.

Power and Wealth in Rural China: The Political Economy of Institutional Change By Susan H. Whiting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 348p. $59.95.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-253
Author(s):  
Benedict Stavis
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Rural China ◽  
The Political ◽  
Rural Industry ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Social Science Theory ◽  
Science Theory ◽  
Sophisticated Analysis

While this book does not quite cover the broad range promised by its title, it does offer a sophisticated analysis of the privatization of rural industry in China, thick in social science theory and rich with empirical data.

scholarly journals A Citizen’s Claim: Science With and for Society

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 943-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Soler ◽  
Aitor Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Qualitative Methodologies

Social science research has been attacked by neoliberal thinkers who allege that such research lacks economic objectives. In the face of neoliberal and positivist criteria for evaluating the social impact of social science inquiry, social science researchers are developing qualitative evaluation methodologies through which we can have direct contact with citizens. These qualitative methodologies declare our social responsibility as social researchers in addressing relevant problems, especially those affecting the most vulnerable people. From these qualitative methodologies, the most vulnerable groups are included in the assessment of the social impacts of social research. Some examples of people who have participated in this qualitative evaluation include women, youth, immigrants, and Roma organizations. Participants perceived social science researchers as being far from their social reality, but in this research, they began to overcome their skepticism that social science research can help to solve those problems affecting their everyday lives.

scholarly journals The Elephant in the Room: Race and STEM Diversity

BioScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria N Miriti
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Faculty Of Color ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Diversity Initiatives ◽  
Recruitment And Retention ◽  
Science And Education ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Despite considerable efforts to enhance participation of underrepresented demographics, participation of scholars of color in STEM remains stagnant. In contrast to other academic disciplines, the experiences of STEM scholars of color are relatively unvoiced, which hinders examination of the factors that reduce participation and retention. Social science and education research reveal the importance of intersectional strategies to address institutional and cultural practices that reduce diverse participation. Institutional change requires the support of the STEM workforce. I summarize important issues that influence recruitment and retention and offer strategies that can improve recruitment and retention of faculty of color. Broad awareness among STEM practitioners of the relationship between race and the biases that reduce recruitment and retention of underrepresented scholars can support STEM diversity initiatives.

OBJECTIVITY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-250
Author(s):  
Muhammad Tasiu Dansabo ◽  
Muhammad Muhammad Bello
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Structure Of Scientific Revolutions ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scientific Endeavor

The debate on the scientific status of the Social Sciences and their bid to achieve objectivity in their inquiries is an unending debate within and outside the Social Science family. The positivists are of the opinion that objectivity in Social Science is achievable and that scientific methods can be used in Social Science inquiry, just the same or similar way(s) the natural scientists do their scientific endeavor. To the positivists ‘value-free Social Science’ is possible. This position is however criticized even within the Social Sciences, let alone in the scientific world. All these debates centered on whether or not the Social Scientists are truly scientific in their quest for knowledge. No matter the outcome of the debate what is obvious is that there is a philosophical problem with scientific objectivity in general. Based on a historical review of the development of certain scientific theories, in his book, ‘the Structure of scientific revolutions’, a scientist and a historian Thomas Kuhn raised some philosophical objections to claims of the possibility of scientific understanding being truly objective. Against this backdrop, the paper seeks to unravel the varied theoretical debates on the subject.

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