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Suggests that the function of UNESCO in the social sciences is to unite the social scientists of all countries in a concerted attack upon the crucial question of the age - how the peoples of the world can learn to live together in peace. (Quotes from original text)

International audience ; This article considers the conflicts linking the social question to the social sciences in Germany around 1900 through the analysis of the student associations for social sciences (Sozialwissenschaftliche Studentenvereine). Students did not seek an introduction to social sciences as academic scientific disciplines in particular, which remained loosely autonomous and suffered from heterogeneous definitions and uses. Much more, students looked for a scientific legitimacy for the resolution of the social question, a task that had to be tackled by the elite they felt destined to join. For a large part of university and political authorities, this interest for the social question could only mean socialism. Therefore, they repressed these associations, especially in Prussia, despite their certain attractivity. The history of these associations allows to understand the attempts to redefine the social role of elites as well as the institutionalisation of the social sciences, which turn out to be closely linked. ; Cet article revient sur les conflits qui lient question sociale et sciences sociales en Allemagne autour de 1900, en mettant au cœur de l'analyse les associations étudiantes de sciences sociales (Sozialwissenschaftliche Studentenvereine). Ce ne sont pas tant les sciences sociales en tant que disciplines universitaires, faiblement autonomisées et aux définitions et usages encore hétérogènes, qui sont recherchées par les étudiants, qu'un cadre et une légitimité scientifiques au règlement de la question sociale, tâche à laquelle doit s'atteler l'élite qu'ils s'estiment destinés à rejoindre. Pour une large partie des autorités universitaires et politiques, cet investissement de la question sociale ne peut qu'être synonyme de socialisme et elles se sont attachées, surtout en Prusse, à réprimer ces associations, malgré leur certaine attractivité. Ces associations rendent en cela visibles les tentatives de redéfinition du rôle social des élites et l'institutionnalisation universitaire des ...

International audience ; This article considers the conflicts linking the social question to the social sciences in Germany around 1900 through the analysis of the student associations for social sciences (Sozialwissenschaftliche Studentenvereine). Students did not seek an introduction to social sciences as academic scientific disciplines in particular, which remained loosely autonomous and suffered from heterogeneous definitions and uses. Much more, students looked for a scientific legitimacy for the resolution of the social question, a task that had to be tackled by the elite they felt destined to join. For a large part of university and political authorities, this interest for the social question could only mean socialism. Therefore, they repressed these associations, especially in Prussia, despite their certain attractivity. The history of these associations allows to understand the attempts to redefine the social role of elites as well as the institutionalisation of the social sciences, which turn out to be closely linked. ; Cet article revient sur les conflits qui lient question sociale et sciences sociales en Allemagne autour de 1900, en mettant au cœur de l'analyse les associations étudiantes de sciences sociales (Sozialwissenschaftliche Studentenvereine). Ce ne sont pas tant les sciences sociales en tant que disciplines universitaires, faiblement autonomisées et aux définitions et usages encore hétérogènes, qui sont recherchées par les étudiants, qu'un cadre et une légitimité scientifiques au règlement de la question sociale, tâche à laquelle doit s'atteler l'élite qu'ils s'estiment destinés à rejoindre. Pour une large partie des autorités universitaires et politiques, cet investissement de la question sociale ne peut qu'être synonyme de socialisme et elles se sont attachées, surtout en Prusse, à réprimer ces associations, malgré leur certaine attractivité. Ces associations rendent en cela visibles les tentatives de redéfinition du rôle social des élites et l'institutionnalisation universitaire des ...

As a response to Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai's book The Cracked Mirror, Sanil's essay explores the relation between ethics and the social sciences. The essay engages the work of Kant, Aristotle, Martin Heidegger, and Michel Foucault, among others, to make its argument. The Cracked Mirror, Sanil claims, makes a strong plea to take Indian philosophy and theory seriously, and it comes closest to an ethics of theory when it asserts that the task of theory is not merely to explain or interpret but to intensify experience.

In a previous article I sought to appraise the field of Turkish studies, for the most part among western (predominantly American) scholars (MESA Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 3, October 15, 1969). To fill out the picture, it is appropriate to also view the state of social research among the rapidly growing body of Turkish teachers and researchers. This article is not, however, a direct parallel to others in the MESA "State of the Art" series, in that it is not basically bibliographical. Such a review would require far more time, space, and knowledge in depth of several other social science disciplines than is currently available to me, because despite the remarks made below about problems of definition, the quantity and technical sophistication of work by Turkish researchers is quite large and is growing rapidly. Furthermore, since most of the research referred to below is in Turkish, the number of persons to whom a bibliographic review might be useful is quite limited. Instead, I think it would be more interesting to MESA members and other American social scientists to examine the characteristics and problems of what is probably one of the most vigorous social science communities in the "developing" countries, with a view (among other things) to helping facilitate increased cooperation between Turkish and American scholars in our common endeavors of advancing the state of knowledge.

Stellenausschreibung der Universität Bremen. Deadline: 2. Januar 2024

An assessment of the impact of social science on the formulation of public policy in liberal-democratic societies. As the postwar expansion became firmly entrenched in the 1950s & 1960s, many liberal-democratic states began to use social research for a number of policy purposes. In Europe, this trend resulted from the social measures & planning introduced by political reform coalitions who used social research to inform their policy choices after gaining power. Social scientists constituted a significant part of these coalitions & were able to gain access to resources & augment the role of social science in policy formulation. These developments were replicated in North America & contributed to the prestige & political significance of social science. The discussion is placed within the larger context of the social & political roles of intellectuals. AA

Mainstream social sciences in the 20th century have always been highly fragmented, with considerable isolation among disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and political science and many disconnected islands of theory and research pursued within each field. Today, even more fundamental epistemological questions about the nature of human action or social life and the proper way to explain or understand it are hotly debated and remain quite unresolved. This article argues that it may be helpful broadly to classify diverse approaches to social or human science as (a) explanatory, (b) descriptivist, (c) critical, (d) postmodern/social constructionist, and (e) hermeneutic or interpretive approaches to such inquiry. Every such typology is shaped by its own epistemological ideals and value commitments. The authors try to make their commitments explicit and explain some of the ways they feel that an interpretive social science or hermeneutic viewpoint offers a relatively coherent view of social inquiry that assists them in incorporating the virtues and avoiding the limitations of other approaches.