The Social Sciences Go to Washington: The Politics of Knowledge in the Postmodern Age - Softcover

 
9780813533414: The Social Sciences Go to Washington: The Politics of Knowledge in the Postmodern Age

Synopsis

What happens when the allegedly value-free social sciences enter the national political arena?  In The Social Sciences Go to Washington, scholars examine the effects of the massive influx of sociologists, demographers, economists, educators, and others to the federal advisory process in the postwar period. Essays look at how these social scientists sought to change existing policies in welfare, public health, urban policy, national defense, environmental policy, and science and technology policy, and the ways they tried to influence future policies.

Policymakers have been troubled that followers of postmodernism have questioned the legitimacy of scientific and political authority to speak for the desires of social groups. As the social sciences increasingly become expressions of individual preferences, the contributors ask, how can they continue to be used to set public policy for us all? 

This collection is a useful resource for anyone studying the relationship between science and the government in the postwar years.

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About the Author

Hamilton Cravens is a professor of history at Iowa State University and author of several books, including The Triumph of Evolution: The Heredity-Environment Controversy 1900-1941, and Before Head Start: The Iowa Station and America's Children.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780813533407: The Social Sciences Go to Washington: The Politics of Knowledge in the Postmodern Age

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0813533406 ISBN 13:  9780813533407
Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2003
Hardcover