The Science of the State
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Clyde W. Barrow
About this book
The Science of the State: Race, Class, and National Identity in US Political Science, 1835-1945 traces the origins of US political science as it emerged from the Staatwissenschaft paradigm of post-Hegelian nineteenth century Germany, particularly through the influence of Johann Caspar Bluntschli, Wilhelm G. F. Roscher, and Ludwig von Gumplowicz. The US science of the state emphasized three concepts – race, class, and national identity – which generated two competing theories of the state: a metaphysical theory of the state anchored in the concept of race, and an economic theory of the state anchored in the concept of class. By the 1920s, a new sociological theory of the state laid the foundations for a paradigm shift from the science of the state to pluralism in US political science. The author suggests that the origins of US political science structured its development as a dialectical conflict between the official discipline’s ideological defense of economic and racial inequality and a critical political science, which challenged the structural inequalities of US capitalism and liberal democracy.
- first book to provide a comprehensive historical and theoretical background to the evolution of political science in the United States since the 1880s.
- Takes a unique, critical look at the discipline of political science in the United States.
Author / Editor information
Clyde W. Barrow is Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and recipient of the 2022 Charles A. McCoy Career Achievement Award. He has written eight books and published 126 peer reviewed book chapters and journal articles. Barrow has served as Managing Editor for the New England Journal of Public Policy, Associate Editor for New Political Science: A Journal of Politics & Culture, and as an editorial board member for four other journals.
Topics
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