Suchergebnisse

This paper summarizes the assumptions of interdiscipliniarity in the social sciences set against the methodological debate on the use of public choice theory in studying European integration. In the first part, it applies the sociology of knowledge to the normative & epistemological assumptions of social science. In the second part, it uses rational choice theory to confront individual actors' motives. The concluding part suggests patterns of desirable approaches to interdisciplinary studies of European integration. Adapted from the source document.

First, the author examines European & world lessons for the study of Czech transformation. Then, he describes legacies of the (mostly communist) past & the risks of transformation: atomization, demoralization, & materialization. The main topic is the failure of the social sciences, which isolated themselves instead of engaging in the reform process, verbally governed by mainstream neoclassical economics. In particular, sociology failed to show the moral dimension & embeddedness of economic processes in the social structure. Most tasks have thus remained for the future, which will stream transformation research towards (1) multidisciplinarity & complexity, (2) the replacement of unidimensional & static conceptual apparatus with a multidimensional & dynamic one, & (3) the understanding of endogeneity of social research & the explicit acknowledgment of its policy dimension.