Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation (2020)
Solovey, Mark (Author)
MIT Press
Publication date: 2020
Language: English
Physical Details: 408
How the NSF became an important yet controversial patron for the social sciences, influencing debates over their scientific status and social relevance. In the early Cold War years, the U.S. government established the National Science Foundation (NSF), a civilian agency that soon became widely known for its dedication to supporting first-rate science. The agency's 1950 enabling legislation made no mention of the social sciences, although it included a vague reference to “other sciences.” Nevertheless, as Mark Solovey shows in this book, the NSF also soon became a major—albeit controversial—source of public funding for them.Solovey's analysis underscores the long-term impact of early developments, when the NSF embraced a “scientistic” strategy wherein the natural sciences represented the gold standard, and created a social science program limited to “hard-core” studies. Along the way, Solovey shows how the NSF's efforts to support scholarship, advanced training, and educational programs were shaped by landmark scientific and political developments, including McCarthyism, Sputnik, reform liberalism during the 1960s, and a newly energized conservative movement during the 1970s and 1980s. Finally, he assesses the NSF's relevance in a “post-truth” era, questions the legacy of its scientistic strategy, and calls for a separate social science agency—a National Social Science Foundation. Solovey's study of the battles over public funding is crucial for understanding the recent history of the social sciences as well as ongoing debates over their scientific status and social value.
...MoreReview Mark Solovey (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 210-211).
Review Paul A Roth (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 204-205).
Review Stephen Turner (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 208-209).
Review Emily Hauptmann (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 206-207).
Review Susan Lindee (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 201-203).
Review Emily Hauptmann (2021) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (pp. 220-222).
Review Jon Agar (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Journal of American History (pp. 468-469).
Review George Reisch (2021) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 75-78).
Review Audra J. Wolfe (2022) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 460-460).
Review Jialu Xie (2021) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy (pp. 285-288).
Review Dennis Bryson (2021) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (pp. 606-608).
Review Katherine Ambler (2021) Review of "Social Science for What?: Battles over Public Funding for the "Other Sciences" at the National Science Foundation". British Journal for the History of Science (pp. 113-114).
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