Secularisms or Liberal-Democratic Constitutionalism?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veit Bader
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Normative Models ◽  
Changing Role

This chapter begins with the concepts “secular,” “secularity,” “secularization,” and “secularism” and summarizes core results of social science studies into the changing role of religions in contemporary societies, Then it discusses problems with the construction of models of the governance of religious diversity in the social sciences and presents some empirically grounded normative models of relations between (organized) religions and societies, cultures, politics, law, and the state in order to draw some normative lessons. The chapter provides a critical discussion of first- and second-order normative principles that should govern the these relations. For rich empirical descriptions and explanations in the social sciences, grand narratives or umbrella concepts such as secularization, secularism, and postsecularism fail to capture different complexities, configurations, and trade-offs. The different meanings of “the principle of secularism” are discussed and a proposal to replace them by rights and principles of liberal-democratic constitutionalism offered.

The Changing Role of the Social Sciences

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Joas
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Changing Role

Sociology’s unspoken weakness: Bringing epistemology back in

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 730-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Stones
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Social ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Ontological Turn ◽  
The 1960S

Following the sustained criticism of positivism and empiricism in the social sciences through the 1960s and 1970s, social theory turned its attention resolutely towards ontology. This ‘ontological turn’ has provided sociology with an enviably rich and diverse palette of understandings emerging from a variety of theoretical traditions. This development has been accompanied, however, by a failure to construct a parallel epistemology with which to translate the variety, fullness and nuance of ontological concepts into strong and defensible empirical accounts. The article signals the complex nature of the consequent challenge and presents the components of a new epistemological framework designed to enable the social sciences to respond to it. Grounded theory is taken as an example of how an influential prior approach attuned to the role of concepts in making sense of empirical data could be constructively integrated into the new epistemology while being greatly strengthened by it. The article concludes with a critical discussion of John Law’s After Method. Closely associated with Actor Network Theory (ANT), Law offers a ‘hard case’ against which to pitch my argument. This is because he holds that the subjective, contingent and ‘assembled’ character of knowledge renders both undesirable and impossible the project of epistemological rigour I present as both possible and essential.

Concluding Summary

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Figdor
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
Conceptual Confusion

Chapter 10 provides a summary of the argument of the book. It elaborates some of the benefits of Literalism, such as less conceptual confusion and an expanded range of entities for research that might illuminate human cognition. It motivates distinguishing the questions of whether something has a cognitive capacity from whether it is intuitively like us. It provides a conceptual foundation for the social sciences appropriate for the increasing role of modeling in these sciences. It also promotes convergence in terms of the roles of internal and external factors in explaining both human and nonhuman behavior. Finally, it sketches some of the areas of new research that it supports, including group cognition and artificial intelligence.

A Phenomenology of Rhythm

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lexi Eikelboom
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Analytical Importance ◽  
Jazz Performance

This chapter proposes a framework for approaching the theological significance of rhythm through phenomenology, prosody, and the social sciences. In accordance with the general categories of phenomenology established by Merleau-Ponty and the “rhythmanalysis” of Henri Lefebvre, the chapter investigates two experiences of rhythm: approaches to analysing the human encounter with rhythm in the reading of poetry and the role of rhythm in social interactions introduced through commonalities between rhythm in conversation and in jazz performance. These explorations establish two features of rhythm that are of analytical importance for the chapters that follow: (1) the synchronic and the diachronic as two necessary but distinct theoretical perspectives on rhythm, each of which emphasizes different features of rhythm and (2) the importance of interruption for understanding rhythm’s significance.

Indonesian Historical Writing after Independence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Dutch Version ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Academic History ◽  
Artistic Representations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Military ◽  
Local Perspectives

This chapter discusses Indonesian historical writing after independence. At the time Indonesia became independent, knowledge of academic history-writing was virtually non-existent. Indonesian elites then faced the postcolonial predicament of having to adopt Western nationalistic approaches to history in order to oppose the Dutch version of the archipelago’s history that had legitimized colonial domination. Soon after independence, the military took over and dominated the writing of history in Indonesia for several decades. Challenges to the military’s view of history came from artistic representations of history, and from historians—trained in the social sciences—who emphasized a multidimensional approach balancing central and local perspectives. However, it was only after 2002 that historians could openly criticize the role of the military.

Reconsidering American Power

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
American Power ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Sponsorship ◽  
To Come

Postcolonial studies, postmodern studies, even posthuman studies emerge, and intellectuals demand that social sciences be remade to address fundamentals of the human condition, from human rights to global environmental crises. Since these fields owe so much to American state sponsorship, is it easier to reimagine the human and the modern than to properly measure the pervasive American influence? Reconsidering American Power offers trenchant studies by renowned scholars who reassess the role of the social sciences in the construction and upkeep of the Pax Americana and the influence of Pax Americana on the social sciences. With the thematic image for this enterprise as the ‘fiery hunt’ for Ahab’s whale, the contributors pursue realities behind the theories, and reconsider the real origins and motives of their fields with an eye on what will deter or repurpose the ‘fiery hunts’ to come, by offering a critical insider’s view.

Energy Markets and Trading

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mares
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Energy Markets ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Impact Risk

This chapter discusses the role of energy in economic development, the transformation of energy markets, trade in energy resources themselves, and the geopolitical dynamics that result. The transformation of energy markets and their expansion via trade can help or hinder development, depending on the processes behind them and how stakeholders interact. The availability of renewable, climate-friendly sources of energy, domestically and internationally, means that there is no inherent trade-off between economic growth and the use of fossil fuels. The existence of economic, political, social, and geopolitical adjustment costs means that the expansion of international energy markets to incorporate alternatives to oil and coal is a complex balance of environmental trade-offs with no solutions completely free of negative impact risk. An understanding of the supply of and demand for energy must incorporate the institutional context within which they occur, as well as the social and political dynamics of their setting.

The Politics of Global Health Inequalities

2019 ◽  
pp. 58-84
Author(s):  
Yusra Ribhi Shawar ◽  
Jennifer Prah Ruger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Health Inequality ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Political Determinants ◽  
The Social

Careful investigations of the political determinants of health that include the role of power in health inequalities—systematic differences in health achievements among different population groups—are increasing but remain inadequate. Historically, much of the research examining health inequalities has been influenced by biomedical perspectives and focused, as such, on ‘downstream’ factors. More recently, there has been greater recognition of more ‘distal’ and ‘upstream’ drivers of health inequalities, including the impacts of power as expressed by actors, as well as embedded in societal structures, institutions, and processes. The goal of this chapter is to examine how power has been conceptualised and analysed to date in relation to health inequalities. After reviewing the state of health inequality scholarship and the emerging interest in studying power in global health, the chapter presents varied conceptualisations of power and how they are used in the literature to understand health inequalities. The chapter highlights the particular disciplinary influences in studying power across the social sciences, including anthropology, political science, and sociology, as well as cross-cutting perspectives such as critical theory and health capability. It concludes by highlighting strengths and limitations of the existing research in this area and discussing power conceptualisations and frameworks that so far have been underused in health inequalities research. This includes potential areas for future inquiry and approaches that may expand the study of as well as action on addressing health inequality.

Social Ontology and Model-Building: A Response to Epstein

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-192
Author(s):  
Nadia Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Model Construction ◽  
Ontological Commitments ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social

Brian Epstein has recently argued that a thoroughly microfoundationalist approach towards economics is unconvincing for metaphysical reasons. Generally, Epstein argues that for an improvement in the methodology of social science we must adopt social ontology as the foundation of social sciences; that is, the standing microfoundationalist debate could be solved by fixing economics’ ontology. However, as I show in this paper, fixing the social ontology prior to the process of model construction is optional instead of necessary and that metaphysical-ontological commitments are often the outcome of model construction, not its starting point. By focusing on the practice of modeling in economics the paper provides a useful inroad into the debate about the role of metaphysics in the natural and social sciences more generally.

The Phantom at The Opera

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Tarrow
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Development ◽  
American Political Development ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Social

Movements and parties have given rise to two largely separates specialties in the social sciences. This Element is an effort to link the two literatures, using evidence from American political development. It identifies five relational mechanisms governing movement/party relations: two of them short term, two intermediate term, and one long-term. It closes with a reflection on the role of movement/party relations in democratization and for democratic resilience.

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