The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences: Positivism and Its Epistemological Others

Description

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

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  EBOOK: The Stata Survival Manual

  By David Pevalin, Karen Robson

  Timberlake website Another useful website is www.timberlake.co.uk. Timberlake Consultants is a statistical consultancy company that also distributes and ...

• 

  Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Understanding Generalist Practice

  By Karen K. Kirst-Ashman, Grafton H. Hull

  Timberlake, E. M., Farber, M. Z., & Sabatino, C. A. (2002). The general method of social work practice (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Timberlake, E. M. ...

• 

  The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-Inch Heels and Faux Pas

  By Karen Robinovitz, Melissa de la Cruz

  All Out of Love • Madonna: The Immaculate Collection • Erasure: Circus Justin Timberlake. Justified - - - - - - - - - - * 75% + T H E FAS H ...

• 

  Asian Americans Information Directory: A Guide to Organizations, Agencies, Institutions, Programs, Publications, and Services Concerned with Asian American Nationalities and...

  By Karen Backus

  + 3590 + Hmong from Laos c / o Assoc . of Hmong in Illinois 4554 N ... Veteran ' s Alliance 1544 Timberlake Rd . St . Paul , MN 55117 Vue Yang , Vice Pres .

• 

  Marriage and Cohabitation

  By Arland Thornton, William G. Axinn, Yu Xie

  ... is much higher than in the United States, with the prevalence in France being perhaps the highest (Heuveline and Timberlake 2004; Toulemon 1997).

• 

  Native American Verbal Art: Texts and Contexts

  By William M. Clements

  HENRY TIMBERLAKE'S CHEROKEE WAR SONG 1. That Timberlake's memoir contains the first English translation of the words of a Native American song seems to have ...

• 

  Oratory in Native North America

  By William M. Clements

  But Timberlake seems to have had a bit more literary sensitivity - suggested by his translation of the Cherokee war song in his memoirs - than these earlier ...

• 

  Contemporary Urban Sociology

  By William G. Flanagan

  Timberlake , Michael . 1985. " The World System Perspective and Urbanization . ” In Michael Timberlake ( ed . ) , Urbanization in the World Economy , 3-4 .

• 

  The Bhopal Tragedy: Language, Logic, And Politics In The Production Of A Hazard

  By William Bogard

  The poor tend to live in dwellings that are structurally unsuited to withstand the impact of environmental extremes (Wijkman and Timberlake 1984, pp.

• 

  The Archaeological Guide to Iowa

  By William E. Whittaker, Lynn M. Alex, Mary De La Garza

  To display and share his discoveries, in 1940 Johnson built the Timberlake Museum on his farm. It remained open to the public during the summer and for ...