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

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The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences

Positivism and Its Epistemological Others

Edited by: and
With contributions by: and

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2005

About this book

Collection of new essays on the past, present, and future of positivism in the various social sciences

Author / Editor information

George Steinmetz is Professor of Sociology and German Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Regulating the Social: The Welfare State and Local Politics in Imperial Germany and The Devil’s Handwriting: Ethnographic Discourse and “Native Policy” in the German Overseas Empire (Southwest Africa, Samoa, and Quingdao/China) (forthcoming) and the editor of State/Culture: State-Formation after the Cultural Turn.

Reviews

“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

Topics

Social Sciences Sociology History of Sociology

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Frontmatter
i

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CONTENTS
v

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Acknowledgments
ix

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Introduction Positivism and Its Others in the Social Sciences
1
George Steinmetz

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Part one. Positivism and Nonpositivism in Twentieth-Century Social Science
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Anthropology. Estrangement, Intimacy, and the Objects of Anthropology
59
Webb Keane

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Area studies/asian studies. The Trick of Words: Asian Studies, Translation, and the Problems of Knowledge
89

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Economics. Economists and the Economy in the Twentieth Century
126
Timothy Mitchell

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Economics/philosophy of science. How Positivism Made a Pact with the Postwar Social Sciences in the United States
142
Philip Mirowski

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History. The Political Unconscious of Social and Cultural History, or, Confessions of a Former Quantitative Historian
173
William H. Sewell Jr.

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Political science/political theory. Defining ‘‘Theory’’ in Postwar Political Science
207
Emily Hauptmann

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Sociology and economics. Beware Trojan Horses Bearing Social Capital: How Privatization Turned Solidarity into a Bowling Team
233
Margaret R. Somers

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Sociology. Scientific Authority and the Transition to Post-Fordism: The Plausibility of Positivism in U.S. Sociology since
275
George Steinmetz

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Part two. Alternatives to Positivism in the Human Sciences
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Philosophy and critical realism. Critical Realism
327
Andrew Collier

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Philosophy and standpoint theory. Negotiating with the Positivist Legacy: New Social Justice Movements and a Standpoint Politics of Method
346
Sandra Harding

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Economics and critical realism. A Perspective on Modern Economics Tony Lawson
366

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Process and temporality in sociology. The Idea of Outcome in U.S. Sociology Andrew Abbott
393

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Psychoanalysis as critique. Psychoanalysis and the Theory of the Subject
427
Anthony Elliott

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Sociology of science. The Real and the Imaginary in Economic Methodology
451
Daniel Breslau

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Making sense in and of political science. Facts, Values, and ‘‘Real’’ Numbers
470
Sophia Mihic, Stephen G. Engelmann and Elizabeth Rose Wingrove

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Being undisciplined. On Your Marx: From Cultural History to the History of Society
496
Geoff Eley

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Conclusion. Provincializing the Social Sciences
508
Michael Burawoy

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References
527

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Contributors
583

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Index
587

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Citation Index
607

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

May 16, 2005

eBook ISBN:

9780822386889

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

632

Other:

1 table

This book is in the series

Politics, History, and Culture

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822386889

eBook ISBN: 9780822386889

Duke University Press

The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction Positivism and Its Others in the Social Sciences

Anthropology. Estrangement, Intimacy, and the Objects of Anthropology

Area studies/asian studies. The Trick of Words: Asian Studies, Translation, and the Problems of Knowledge

Economics. Economists and the Economy in the Twentieth Century

Economics/philosophy of science. How Positivism Made a Pact with the Postwar Social Sciences in the United States

History. The Political Unconscious of Social and Cultural History, or, Confessions of a Former Quantitative Historian

Political science/political theory. Defining ‘‘Theory’’ in Postwar Political Science

Sociology and economics. Beware Trojan Horses Bearing Social Capital: How Privatization Turned Solidarity into a Bowling Team

Sociology. Scientific Authority and the Transition to Post-Fordism: The Plausibility of Positivism in U.S. Sociology since

Philosophy and critical realism. Critical Realism

Philosophy and standpoint theory. Negotiating with the Positivist Legacy: New Social Justice Movements and a Standpoint Politics of Method

Economics and critical realism. A Perspective on Modern Economics Tony Lawson

Process and temporality in sociology. The Idea of Outcome in U.S. Sociology Andrew Abbott

Psychoanalysis as critique. Psychoanalysis and the Theory of the Subject

Sociology of science. The Real and the Imaginary in Economic Methodology

Making sense in and of political science. Facts, Values, and ‘‘Real’’ Numbers

Being undisciplined. On Your Marx: From Cultural History to the History of Society

Conclusion. Provincializing the Social Sciences

References

Contributors

Index

Citation Index

Bibliographic data