scholarly journals Social Science and Social Struggle: Understanding the Necessary Confluence of Scholarship and Political Commitment

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Clow
Keyword(s):  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Generative Processes ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Political Commitments ◽  
Human Purpose

<p>Social scientists and historians are wary to acknowledge that political commitments play a part in their explanations of society. But we all know they do. Are we poor scientists? Not according to the Edinburgh School, which argues all successful scientific theories are but practical knowledge, shaped by the encounter of human purpose and empirical world. Practical knowledge always involves the uncertain, trial and error application of the intellectual resources drawn from exemplary solutions to new situations. Praxis <em>is</em> the only valid path to knowledge. But no matter how successful, practical knowledge is a theoretically and empirically limited ‘working knowledge' which cannot produce sure understanding of the generative processes producing what we see. What distinguishes studies of society from those of Nature is that the political purposes of conflicting scholarly traditions are so deeply and manifestly divergent. </p> <p> </p> <p>Implications? Above all we should be skeptical about any strong claims to theoretical certainty, on our part or by others. Dogmatism and sectarianism are epistemologically untenable in the Edinburgh view. Scientific debate would be advanced if we were as open about our political orientations as we are enjoined to be about research design and methodology. And demanded the same of others. This may be possible across ‘camps' in the same tradition and even ideological barriers, where goodwill prevails.  In the public sphere the Edinburgh perspective suggests the shifting of the grounds of debate and the framing/reframing of issues requires a tacit recognition that social knowledge is shaped by its political purposes and cannot simply be ‘the facts m'am, just the facts.'</p>

Transnarodowa kwestia społeczna. Migracje i nierówności społeczne

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-40
Author(s):  
Thomas Faist
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Question ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ecological Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global North ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Political Economic

The social question is back. Yet today’s social question is not primarily between labour and capital, as it was in the nineteenth century and throughout much of the twentieth. The contemporary social question is located at the interstices between the global South and the global North. It finds its expression in movements of people, seeking a better life or fleeing unsustainable social, political, economic, and ecological conditions. It is transnationalized because migrants and their significant others entertain ties across the borders of national states in transnational social spaces; because of the cross-border diffusion of norms; and because there are implications of migration for social inequalities within national states. The first section discusses the structure of social inequalities in migration and the politics around it. It starts, first, by elaborating upon the commonalities and differences of the social question in the 19th and 21st centuries and then, second, asks whether the increasing relevance of location compared to class for income and life chances has replaced voice as a main response by exit. This is followed, third, by an elaboration of the nexus between social inequalities and migration, i.e. migration being both an antecedent and a consequence of social inequalities. Fourth, the focus moves to the main changes in migration control, its externalization from border control to remote control. This is followed, fifth, by a consideration of the other side of the coin, internalization processes in countries of destination and origin, driven by processes such as marketization and securitization of migration. The second section then moves on to sketch one of the main challenges, the need to include ecological aspects into the discussion of the social question. The analysis concludes with reflections on the shifting form of the transnationalized social question. Finally, the outlook discusses the role of social scientists in discussing the transnationalized social question in the public sphere.

scholarly journals How to do things with epigenetics: An investigation into the use of metaphors to promote alternative approaches to health and social science, and their implications for interdisciplinary collaboration

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Nerlich ◽  
Aleksandra Stelmach ◽  
Catherine Ennis
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Alternative Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
The Public Sphere

Epigenetics is a multifaceted field within genetics and genomics which focuses on discovering mechanisms involved in gene expression and regulation. It came to public attention around the turn of the millennium when the human genome began to be deciphered. Initial findings from epigenetics research held the promise of changing how we think about health and illness, evolution and heredity; speculations about how individuals and populations could begin to control such processes through epigenetics were then picked up in the public realm. In this article we concentrate on two normally distant domains within the public sphere: the advertising of alternative health products and services, and the promotion of alternative approaches to social science, especially around how social science deals with the ‘biosocial’. Using insights from social representations theory and methods aligned with metaphor analysis, we investigate the meanings of epigenetics rooted in the use of metaphors and commonplaces that are circulating in current popular parlance and that are used to promote academic theories and ideas as well as tangible products and services. We compare and contrast them and assess their implications for collaborations between natural and social scientists. Our findings reveal some surprising similarities between the metaphors and commonplaces used by advertisers and social scientists, based in large part on the fact that both groups draw on the work of prominent epigeneticists. In both instances some fundamental tenets of mainstream biology are contested, and hopes are created for improving individual or population well-being through the manipulation of epigenetic mechanisms. Both domains share some misunderstandings of epigenetics that might lead to problems with interdisciplinary collaborations between social and natural scientists.

Who Is Listening? When Scholars Think They Are Talking to Congress

2014 ◽  
Vol 657 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-273
Author(s):  
Kenneth Prewitt
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Public Funds ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

The editors asked for my view on whether, in the current political climate, the recommendations in this volume of The ANNALS are likely to be heeded. The question that precedes this one is whether the volume’s contributors understand why policy-makers make use of science at all. “No” is the obvious answer, though I see this not as a failure particular to their effort but rather as a broader failure of social science. Getting the science right is a necessary but not sufficient step in getting it used. Social scientists have not investigated the use of science in policy in a serious way. They must if science is to have influence in the public sphere. I also comment on the political climate, unhelpfully described by many worried observers as antiscience. It is more informative to say that there is a Congress-led effort to push science policy and federal expenditures toward short-term and narrow national goals. This is harmful to science and consequently to the nation, and scientists should explain why. But they must also respect that science policy and setting priorities for spending public funds are congressional responsibilities.

scholarly journals Globalization and Muslims: The Concerns & Contradictions

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
Mohd. Habib
Keyword(s):  
Social Scientists ◽  
The West ◽  
Secular Humanism ◽  
The Public ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Christian Morality ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Definition Of

<p>Globalization has been defined in many different ways as the subject has been dealt by many philosophers, social scientists and policymakers with various approaches. Here for the convenience to elaborate the subject, we use the definition of Roland Robertson a known scholar of the subject who applies  the term to ‘<em>a consciousness of the growing connectivity and integration not only between countries and region of the world but also between all manner of economic, political and cultural spheres and processes</em>’.</p><p> </p><p>The earliest origin of the process of globalization is traced with the beginning of modernity after the Renaissance in the West. During eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the modernity emerged in European civilization with secular humanism and gradual decline of religion and morality. It was the time when Christianity removed from the public sphere but Christian morality particularly protestant remain still alive. That morality was intertwined and collaborated with the system of capitalism in economical and industrial terms, as the modernity and globalization is the direct out come of the industrial capitalism. The values of this system spread worldwide by the imperialism of Europe and later on of America.</p><p> </p><p>Here, it is not possible to discuss the whole process of globalization and its ramifications, as the goal of this paper is just to analyze in brief the concerns of the Muslims in India and the world as a reflection of the process of modernity and globalization. It will explain why the Muslims are not ready to emulate the West as such. In this paper I am largely benefited by the ideas of Ejaz Akram, which he had expressed on the subject ‘The Muslim World and Globalization’.</p><div><div><p> </p></div><div><p> </p></div></div>

The public sphere in the twilight zone of publicness

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312110614
Author(s):  
Slavko Splichal
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Twilight Zone ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Scholarly Discourse

The article discusses the reasons and conditions for the rise and fall of the popularity of the public sphere concept in scholarly discourse in four parts. The first part examines the peculiar circumstances of the emergence of the concept of the public sphere, and its rapid and widespread adoption in the social sciences. The second part discusses the complexity of the concept “Öffentlichkeit” and its English proxy “the public sphere,” and the contemporary critique of its ideological predispositions. The third part focuses on the liberalization and (operational) banalization of the concept. The final part suggests ways in which social scientists could respond critically to the challenges outlined earlier and reintegrate publicness, the public, and the public sphere into the analysis.

No Alternative? The Public Role of Social Scientists in Understanding the Transnationalized Social Question

2018 ◽  
pp. 286-312
Author(s):  
Thomas Faist
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Question ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Public Sphere

Given the high political relevance of the transnationalized social question, it is important to ask how social scientists might intervene in public debates on inequalities. Academic and public debates on social inequalities and social protection often raise the question whether and in what ways social scientific research may form a basis for rational political decisions. The main thesis in the spirit of public sociology here is that, while social science research indeed has implications for public policies, such a question is ultimately misleading. While social scientists as experts, advocates, or public intellectuals offer crucial information for describing and understanding social inequalities and social protection, the most important function of social scientists is to offer concepts and interpretations which can guide political debates in the public sphere.

Understanding 'science and the public'

10.5912/jcb73 ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Public Acceptance ◽  
Ongoing Task ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Public Sphere

Public acceptance of the products of biotechnology is an important issue for the industry. This paper looks at relevant academic and policy developments in the field of public understanding of science, which considers the role of science in the public sphere. It traces the interaction of scientists, social scientists and the public in the move from early 'deficit' conceptions of public understanding to more recent positions in which the public are seen as active participants in a variety of contexts for science. These newer conceptualisations could usefully contribute to the biotechnology industry's ongoing task of establishing constructive relations with its various publics.

scholarly journals Beyond Narcissism: Towards an Analysis of the Public, Political and Collective Forms of Contemporary Spirituality

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clot-Garrell ◽  
Griera
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Theoretical Developments

Holistic spirituality has often been characterized by academic literature as belonging to the private sphere, articulated through the market and anchored in the growth of narcissistic individualism. However, recent empirical evidence and theoretical developments suggest a more complex picture. Drawing on the analysis and comparison of two empirical cases—the organization of collective meditations in public spaces and the teaching of yoga in prisons by holistic volunteers —we explore the rise of social engagement initiatives, aiming to transform society through the promotion and use of holistic techniques. Our main conclusions revolve around four main issues (a) the move of holistic spirituality from the private to the public sphere and the increasing public resonance with (and acceptance of) the contemporary holistic milieu, (b) the emergence of an holistic imaginary of social change anchored in ethics of reciprocity and responsibility, (c) the role of the body as a central locus of resistance and social transformation and (d) the articulation of new forms of individualism that enable to make self-realization compatible with social and political commitment.

Humanities and the public sphere

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-161
Author(s):  
Jef Verschueren
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
Linguistic Pragmatics ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Way

This article starts from the observation of current changes in the nature of a globalizing public sphere for which older structural boundaries have lost much of their relevance. Though the public sphere has traditionally been a topic for social scientists (and philosophers), a redefinition in terms of the realm of publicly accessible meaning, and of struggles over socially and politically important meaning, necessitates a contribution from the humanities. In particular, linguistic pragmatics, providing tools for an analysis of the way in which explicit and implicit forms of meaning interact in the process of generating meanings, is argued to be a useful instrument. The argument is supported with an analysis of the differences in meaning landscapes that emerge even in different-­language versions of the ‘same’ text, illustrating how dependent publicly available meaning is on basic pragmatic processes. The article concludes that a maturing science of language use is therefore needed to understand variations in the accounts of social and political reality that people in a globalizing public sphere live by.

Wisdom remembered: recovering a theological vision of wisdom for the academe

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Deane-Drummond
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Theological Vision

In considering issues of public and global importance, social scientists are coming to an increasing recognition of the importance of religious belief in motivating particular attitudes and actions. If one of the tasks of academe is to articulate those values that are important in the public sphere, it must necessarily include careful discussion of the religious dimension of human existence. This paper addresses the issue of what a theological vision of wisdom might look like and its relevance in serving the public good in the context of a university. John Henry Newman's The idea of a university , proposed in the nineteenth century, gives some insights into what wisdom informed by theology might look like when applied to higher education. Prudence, or practical wisdom, as found in the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas offers a mediating strategy between philosophical and theological approaches to wisdom. An argument will be put forward for a recovery of prudence as relevant for shaping the ethos of universities. In this, universities can also serve the public good and promote human welfare in contested areas such as environmental decision-making or new reproductive technologies.

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