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The deficiencies of objectivity & detachment in the social sciences are identified in relation to the desirability of subjective & ethically motivated forms of knowledge & research. Drawing on the theory of Max Weber, traditional science is depicted as detached observation that seeks objectivity through the absence of cognitive, moral, or emotional judgment. This goal is deemed both impossible & misleading as social analysts can never completely distance themselves from the objects of analysis, & recognition of the emotional, moral, & subjective dimensions of research can in fact facilitate understanding. Individuals must be seen as a conglomeration of multiple & often contradictory identities & communities, a process inhibited by the traditional scientific method. It is concluded that social analysts synthesize their work with localized & context-specific conceptions of social justice, transformative action, human dignity, & equality. T. Sevier

The foundations of Enlightenment thought & the nature of a postmodern approach to human studies are discussed. Although modernization is a fundamental goal in many developing nations & remains a central component of developed Western nations, it is argued that postmodern themes have taken hold in the US, France, GB, Federal Republic of Germany, & Australia, especially within academic communities. These themes include diverse challenges to Enlightenment thought, redefinition of traditional conceptions of knowledge, & blurring of disciplinary & social boundaries. Following a review of the historical development of Enlightenment social analysis, postmodern empirical social analysis is characterized by an emphasis on the aims & effects (rather than the nature) of knowledge; consideration of the social, moral, & political implications of thought & action; synthesis of science, literature, history; & the development of new languages, conventions, & skills to accommodate these new ways of thinking, analyzing, & acting. 49 References. T. Sevier

Varieties of environmentalist thought & their affinities with the core moral & epistemological tradition of modernity are examined. Thinking about environmental crises is dependent on the perceived relationship between language & the world. Prior to the seventeenth century, language, culture, & the natural order were embedded in the word & natural meaning stemmed from interpreting signs in nature & the environment. Modernity brought differentiation of cultural spheres & the separation of language from the world. Language became a vehicle for self-certain apodictic knowledge that legitimated human domination of nature. Two reactions of the ecology movement to this modernity discourse are neomodernism, which rejects assumptions about the correspondence between language & nature, & deep green romanticism. Problems with both of these are highlighted, & a third alternative is proposed in which social practices & nature are viewed as intersecting & ongoing forms of life. 107 References. D. Generoli

"As early as in the mid-1930s, the world went towards eliminating the foundations of the classical doctrine of ius ad bellum and enforcing legal norms to restrain the violence of war. However, at the same time the world experiences the release of unbounded violence, epitomized by the rise of total war in the 20th century. Total war does not know any difference between combatants and non-combatants. Atrocities and war crimes are not just rare exceptions. How was it possible that in the modern age we are confronted with such an irreconcilable opposition between the morals and norms of war and the practice of war? The article will deal with this question by way of reconstructing essential elements of the discursive conditions of the 'dissociation mentality' (Bernd Hüppauf). This way of asking assumes that discourses on war, that is organized knowledge structures gained from texts, myths, images and collective symbols dealing with the experience of violence in the context of war, considerably influence the views, mentalities, moral orientations and behaviour of humans. In the article, the analysis will be restricted to one certain discourse which developed in Germany in the interwar period. The thesis is that the 'discourse of martial society' must be counted among the institutional preconditions of unbounded violence in World War II, because it was systematically severing the commitment to civilized norms. The discourse comprised a fundamental criticism of those barriers to violence as gained by civilization, which becomes particularly obvious by a criticism of the political philosophy of the Romantic period and Western civilization. It aimed at heroic individualization, the modernization of social structures according to military patterns and at total mobilization. And not the least, it led into an apology of violence." (author's abstract)

Personal recollections of a former developmental biologist focus on the intellectual alliances & boundary-crossing paths of an academic career that led to pedagogical reform involving a linkage of molecular biology, political theory, & feminist studies. The impact of B. Latour's (1993, 1996, 1999) notions of disciplinary boundaries as actor-networks, D. Haraway's (1988, 1997) theoretical framework of material-semiotic apparatuses, & M. Foucault's conception of freedom is discussed in relation to the formation of complex, boundary-crossing assemblages. The moral & political dimensions of questioning why humans are at liberty to realize how & why matter matters, & to whom, are explored. It is maintained that liberty has the properties of "making" rather than "made" &, as such, is not made practical with the help of science or technology. Rather, scientists are said to be "makers of liberty" by virtue of producing knowledge that allows freedom, even though scientists themselves are never totally free of the relations of politics & power. 26 References. J. Lindroth

Discusses the results & implications of a science studies perspective regarding the high-energy physics field, based on 20 years personal research including 6 years of fieldwork at major US & Japanese labs. It is suggested that the international community of high-energy physicists is characterized by the production of privileged knowledge founded in biased gender & cultural norms that have the potential to marginalize & close the field to much needed diversity of opinions. Japanese women physicists fall into three generational groups: the senior generation, which was educated in Japan & holds low-level jobs; the young generation, which is benefiting from changing attitudes regarding working women; & the mid-career group, which received upper-level education in Europe, yet has been relegated to mid-range opportunities in Japan. It is argued that although military funding is condemned in both Japan & the US, most US physicists reject such funding due to a dislike of applied research, rather than as a result of personal moral or political obstructions. Further, many of the best high-energy physicists in the US have been coaxed into military research by money. T. Sevier