Knowledge and the Social Sciences: Theory, Method, Practice / Edition 2

by David Goldblatt

Overview

Knowledge and the Social Sciences takes as its point of departure the claims that all forms of knowledge, the social sciences included, must be seen and understood in their social context. It argues that the social sciences both describe and transform their object of study, though rarely in ways that social scientists intend, and introduces students to the key epistemological and philosophical terms and issues essential for further study in the social sciences.

In a radical and yet lucid and practical introduction to ways of thinking and knowing in the social sciences this text investigates:

* the origins and consequences of different types of knowledge in substantive areas of social change: medical practice, religious beliefs, and the environment
* whether there is a decline in public trust of expert knowledge systems
* whether we are entering a knowledge society, a fragmented post-modern society, or a risk society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415329767
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/08/2004
Series:	Understanding Social Change
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

1. Medicine and Medical Knowledge 2. Religion and Religious Knowledge 3. Environmental Politics and Political Ideologies 4. Knowledge, Social Change and Social Sciences