Ideology in Social Science: Readings in Critical Social Theory.

1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Barry Scott Green ◽  
Robin Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social

scholarly journals Globalization, State, Identity/Difference

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-135
Author(s):  
Srini Sitaraman
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
First Order ◽  
Structural Weakness ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Critical Social

What is reality? Is reality what we see? How do we tell what is real, and how do wedifferentiate “real” from “false” or uncover the truth in an objective fashion? The searchfor reality or understanding the dynamics of human interaction in an institutionalized settinghas resulted in a vibrant debate in international relations (IR) theory over the metatheoreticalfoundations of knowledge production. Positivists and realists claim that truth andreality can be and have been uncovered by thorough and patient research. Truth is, after all,“out there” somewhere in the real world, and it is the task of social scientists to uncover it.Critical social theorists, however, argue that social science is not akin to physical or evennatural sciences, for human behavior is dynamic and varies both spatially and temporally.“Reality” or “truth” can never be discovered or known completely because of the nature ofsocial activity. Furthermore, there are no fixed foundations for judging what is “real,”“true,” or “false.” Hence, the attention of critical social inquiry has focused predominantlyon the epistemological and ontological foundations of social scientific methods.By concentrating on epistemology and ontology, critical social theorists have shownthe structural weakness of positivist and realist theories. Furthermore, the inability of positivesocial science to go beyond surface structures to explore deep structures of knowledgealso has been exposed by critical social theorists. The unequivocal outcome of critical socialtheory is that knowledge, interest, and preference matter and, therefore, cannot be assumed.The critical social theorist does not focus on the cognitive manifestations of knowledge,interests, and preferences, but rather on how they are formed, created, or constructed.However, despite its ombudsman-like value and importance, critical social theoryhas yet to emerge as an effective alternative to positive social science. Critical social theoryhas remained true to its name and has continued to play the role of a harsh but valuablecritic. Keyman seeks to buck this trend by providing a basis for using critical socialtheory not just as an epistemological critique to challenge the extant theoretical hegemony,but also to deploy it as a “first-order theorizing tool”-an ambitious goal indeed. Hisbook is an attempt to bridge the theory-metatheory gap found in IR theory and, at the sametime, elevate critical social theory to the level of such first-order theories as the muchmaligned Waltzian theory of international relations. The challenge of deploying criticalsocial theory not just as a captious force, but rather as a constructive theory, is a difficultand slippery task. Critical social theory should be able to criticize and dismantle withoutrelying on foundational support (i.e., without relying on positivistic moments). In addition,it also should resist succumbing to the temptation of assuming the discourse of thehegemon, in which the “other” becomes the subject.Keyman attempts to traverse these intellectual minefields by emphasizing the need fordialogical interaction between discourse (object) and subject. The object and subject should ...

Open universities, close prisons: critical arguments for the future

2019 ◽  
pp. 73-94
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Prison Education ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
The Future ◽  
Critical Social

Drawing on critical social theory and arguments that prison is a profoundly misunderstood institution only loosely related to trends in crime, Earle and Mehigan write against the grain of celebrating the successes of prison education. Anchored in the radical scholarship of OU social science, they seek to extend criticism of imprisonment beyond its reform and toward abolition. Questions of race, racism and colonial patterns of inclusion and exclusion drive an argument that demands a more qualified enthusiasm for prison education.

Social Explanation: Structures, Stories, and Ontology. A Reply to Díaz León, Saul, and Sterken

Disputatio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (50) ◽  
pp. 245-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Haslanger
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Social Agency ◽  
Metaphysical Explanation ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Social Explanation ◽  
Critical Social

Abstract In response to commentaries by Esa Díaz León, Jennifer Saul, and Ra- chel Sterken, I develop more fully my views on the role of structure in social and metaphysical explanation. Although I believe that social agency, quite generally, occurs within practices and structures, the relevance of structure depends on the sort of questions we are asking and what interventions we are considering. The emphasis on questions is also relevant in considering metaphysical and meta-metaphysical is- sues about realism with respect to gender and race. I aim to demon- strate that tools we develop in the context of critical social theory can change the questions we ask, what forms of explanation are called for, and how we do philosophy.

scholarly journals Sociedade em Rede: Paraíso ou Pesadelo? Reflexões acerca de novas formas de articulação social e territorial das sociedades

GEOgraphia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Randolph
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Network Society ◽  
Critical Social

Resumo O ensaio visa fornecer elementos conceituais da teoria social crítica a fim de permitir (i) uma leitura crítica da disseminação indiscriminada do termo “rede” e (ii) sua re- apropriação para a caracterização das transformações sociais e territoriais pelas quais passam as sociedades contemporâneas. Interroga, neste sentido, as idéias mais recentemente publicadas por Castells sobre a sociedade em rede, apontando incoerências na abordagem desse autor. Palavras-chave:redes sociais, sociedade em rede.Abstract The article aims to supply conceptual elements of the critical social theory in order to allow (i) a critical apreciation of the term “network” indiscriminate dissemination and (ii) its re- appropriation to characterize social and territorial transformations that are reshaping contemporary societies. Interrogating, in this sense, the ideas more recently published by Castells related to the network-society, pointing out incoherences in that author's approach. Keywords: social nets, network society.

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