Theory and Progress in Social Science

This work, sequel to the author's Theories of Civil Violence, attacks questions that have long troubled social science and social scientists - questions of the cumulative nature of social inquiry. Does the knowledge generated by the study of social, political, and economic life grow more comprehensive over time? Do today's social scientists in any meaningful sense know more than their intellectual ancestors about such perennial concerns as the origins of war and peace, or the causes of economic growth, or the forces shaping social stratification, or origins of civil upheaval? These questions go to the heart of social scientists soul-searching as to whether they are indeed engaged in science. The author pursues these questions through in-depth examination of various theoretical programmes currently influential in social science, including feminist social science, rational choice theory, network analysis and others.