Pragmatic Inquiry: Critical Concepts for Social Sciences

This book explores critical concepts for a shift in the social sciences toward pragmatic inquiry, focusing on empirical exploration and attention to objects, techniques, and practices. It draws from broad-based social theory to analyze new challenges, such as the everyday workings of markets, courts, and clinics, and the transformations of practice within research disciplines. The volume will expand and improve the analytical repertoires of social scientists, including scholars in sociology, anthropology, science and technology studies, public health, and related fields.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 234 pages
Publication date: 09 October 2020
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into a diverse array of critical concepts that are pivotal in the shift towards pragmatic inquiry in the social sciences, reflecting a twenty-first-century emphasis on addressing specific problems and themes rather than overarching grand theories. Adopting a transnational and transdisciplinary perspective, the collection showcases a collective dedication to employing analytical concepts for empirical exploration, with a general orientation towards research that prioritizes attention to objects, techniques, and practices. The chapters draw from a wide range of social theory to analyze novel challenges, ranging from understanding the everyday dynamics of markets, courts, and clinics to examining the transformations of practice within research disciplines themselves. Each contributor takes a key concept and delves into its genealogies, tracing its dissemination across scholarly communities, as well as its significant contributions to the social sciences and, often, critical assessments of its present and future applications.

This meticulously crafted volume holds the potential to significantly broaden and enhance the analytical toolkits available to social scientists, encompassing scholars from various disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, science and technology studies, public health, and related fields. By exploring these critical concepts in depth, the book offers valuable insights and methodologies for understanding and addressing the complex challenges of our time.

Weight: 378g
Dimension: 156 x 235 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367472030