One of the very first books to explore the role of the social sciences in historical, sociological, and global perspectives, it does so by analyzing the practical making and discursive aspects of social scientific disciplines, including sociology, economics, psychology, business and administration studies, social gerontology, gender studies, educational science, geography, and political science. It looks at them not only in their academic setting but also in extra-academic contexts and in a broader global setting. The volume includes 15 chapters written by an international and multidisciplinary group of scholars. The overall aim of the book is to encourage a contextual and reflexive understanding of the complex and dynamic relationship between the social sciences and society of the past and in today's globalized world. It is concerned with the bonds between the social sciences and society at large, including themes such as gender and power, science and politics, academic boundaries and global power relations, and postcolonial perspectives.
