What is social science if not critical?

Bacevic, Jana

Abstract

This short article represents a contribution to the debate on the motion “Social science is explanation, or it is nothing.” While in the format of parliamentary debating the contribution would fall on the side of the opposition, I will not be arguing against explanation as such. The work of explaining is in no way oppositional to or mutually exclusive with critique. Instead, my contribution will revolve around two arguments: one is that both critique and explanation exhibit characteristics we commonly attribute to science; the other is that reserving the label of science for explanation draws a boundary around social sciences in ways that exclude many of the interesting things it does. Some of the examples include the sociological analysis of governmental approaches to the COVID‐19 pandemic, or critical analysis of concepts such as “cancel culture” or “terrorism.” The conclusion is that explanation and critique are mutually supporting elements of science, and that combined they give us insights we cannot glean from either alone.

Citation

Bacevic, J. (online). What is social science if not critical?. The British Journal of Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13142

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 14, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 19, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 23, 2024
• Journal: The British Journal of Sociology
• Print ISSN: 0007-1315
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-4446
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13142
• Keywords: social science, critique, social theory, explanation
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2873204