Reconstructing Social Theory, History and Practice

The Sociological Review, 2010

International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research

This paper seeks to explore and challenge widely held notions surrounding the utility of postmodernist deconstruction within the realm of the social sciences. Beginning with a defence of the inclusion or rather by building a case for the inclusion of postmodernist modes of enquiry in the social sciences (specifically in this case; political science), this paper builds on the historical utility of the deconstruction process as well as mapping out its perceived utility in contemporary political theory as well as charting out its importance in the analysis of international relations and global affairs. Lastly, this paper also seeks to understand how the utilisation of Derridean deconstruction (often widely held to be the most important of all post-modernist modes of enquiry) in the creation of post-colonial and post-structuralist discourse possesses the potential to create bodies of knowledge that are not rooted in or wholly reliant on positivist logic or discourse, a characteristic th...

Asian Social Science; Vol. 9, No. 7

Developing societies have often relied on Western or Eurocentric knowledge as a consequence of colonization process, intellectual imperialism, as well as experiences of the forces of modernization and its dependencies, as well as globalization rhetoric. The basic premise of this article is that all civilizations have potential sources of social science theorizing. This article explicates the general development of social sciences discourses in the West and response from the developing societies in particular. Specifically the article attempts to elaborate on the impasse in social science as it relates to domination of Eurocentric knowledge and the marginalization of local knowledge. In framing this article, insights on captive mind by Alatas and the notion of modern power by Foucault are utilized. Our approach to power and knowledge involves a multi-scalar analysis of the functioning of power relations that impinged on the social science discipline as experienced in the developing societies. Contestations from within the Western realm as well as developing societies appear to provide a remedy to the contemporary situation, but somewhat at a slow pace and operating in the margins. The relevance of adapting to local context and the institutional capacity for self-empowerment in localizing knowledge is a necessary path that developing societies should take.

Sociological theory, 1994

Postmodern claims for the lack of general coherence in social life and therefore in social research are merely a version of recurrent attempts to accept incoherence as adequate in explanations. Incoherence, however, is less sharply distinguishedfrom the synthetic and generalizing theories that it is held to have replaced than its proponents and critics suppose. Generalizing approaches, in fact, were built around contradictions that contributed to their instability and facilitated postmodern fragmentation. In this paper we demonstrate the central contradictions in social theory, showing their common occurrence in apparently opposed positions. Both postmodernism and what it seeks to replace are features of a conservative and unproductive social science. We trace the contradictory continuities through major modern schools of social theory in order to clear the ground for a progressive social science which accepts contradictions as problems that must be solved creatively in the practice of social research.

Human Relations, 1997

2005

Sociology as a discipline is intimately entwined with modernity, both as lived and as theorized. Sociologists have galvanized distinctive mechanisms of social rationalization and technical regulation (not least statistics and surveys) and authored ideas of the modern social space as a realm that we denizens inhabit and control. Sociologists also have helped define modernity’s significant Others, including the categories of tradition and postmodernity. They have applied their intellectual energy to formulating what might be called the ‘‘sociological modern’’: situating actors and institutions in terms of these two categories, understanding the paths by which they develop or change, and communicating these understandings to states, citizens, all manner of organizations, and social movements—as well as vast armies of students. On this basis, sociologists have helped build and manage today’s sprawling, globally extended social edifice while simultaneously trying to diagnose and dismantl...

This book addresses the ideological figure of modernity, its presumed historical significance as an era, and its theoretical adequacy as a frame. It shows how science is evoked to prevent the sociological imagination from elaborating non-Eurocentric categories and terminologies that are more adequate for a global age. The idea of modernity should not only be contested, but radically unthought in its foundational assumptions. These assumptions inform concepts such as secularization, emancipation, the 'global' and accumulation of capital. This book frees these concepts from ethnocentrism and discloses a path toward a new, non-Eurocentric, global social theory. Gennaro Ascione explores the transformative potential of decolonizing knowledge through a radical reconsideration of the historical and epistemological role that the intellectual reference to science plays in the construction of concepts. This ground-breaking work challenges social theorists to think globally beyond modernity, bringing together social theory and science in an unprecedented way. Importantly, it makes accessible a new space of missing theorization for further developments and inquiries in the field. http://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137516855

La falta de buenos resultados en la iniciación de más proyectos de campo sobre la conservación in situ, cuando se utilizan determinados criterios mínimos para un posible éxito, condujo a la FAO a organizar en 1980 una consulta de expertos sobre la conservación in situ de recursos genéticos forestales. La finalidad de la consulta era determinar actividades específicas y urgentes en este sector y trazar directrices para la ejecución de los proyectos in situ. En el Anexo I se exponen las conclusiones y recomendaciones de la consulta de expertos. La FAO publicará el informe completo de la consulta en el segundo semestre de 1981.