Academic Dependency in the Social Sciences: Structural Reality and Intellectual Challenges

This book deals with the academic dependency of scholars variously positioned in the South. All contributors to this book acknowledge that though place might play a different role in the contemporary globalized world, the location of people have not become irrelevant. However, there is limited knowledge about the impact of place among academicians differently located in the South and of the costs and benefits of academic globalization. The main purpose of this book therefore is to increase knowledge about the net result of such a calculus today for various regions in the South. Though all scholars in this book look upon academic dependency as a problem, there are differences of opinion as to what constitutes academic dependency, what its manifestations are, and how to cope with academic dependency. The papers in this volume deal with two major differences or levels of the problem of academic dependency, that is, the theoretical and practical. The editors think it is essential that academic dependency be understood and dealt with along these two levels as this will enable an appreciation of the magnitude of the problem and a serious consideration of the options available as measures to overcome academic dependency are considered.

Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff is a former director research at the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) who obtained her PhD from the Centre of Asian Studies in Amsterdam. Syed Farid Alatas is associate professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore. He obtained his PhD in sociology from the Johns Hopkins University and his work has been widely published in journals and edited books.