On a couple of occasions I’ve discussed Emma Marris’s important book Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World (e.g. link). I highly recommend reading it: you may not agree with all her arguments, but you will find it challenges and informs your thinking in ways that any book of the type ought to do. … [Read more…]
It’s probably fair to say that few concepts in the social sciences are the focus of as much confusion, and unclear debates and writing, as the concept of an institution. Well, I often find such writing and debates confusing. Do you, too? Scholars often define “institutions” very differently, variably interpret their effects (e.g. some view … [Read more…]
Today I attended an interesting discussion about the 2018 International Sustainability Transitions (IST) conference (via the Australian Sustainability Transitions Research Alliance [ASTRA]) at which conference attendees shared their thoughts and reflections on the conference. Running through multiple thoughts and observations seemed to be dissatisfaction with current theory and practice in relation to present sustainability issues … [Read more…]
I’ve been reflecting on my PhD work and some potential future directions for my research which build on my growing interest in knowledge-related aspects of sustainability transitions. This post sketches a few preliminary thoughts regarding what a research agenda focussed on these aspects of transitions could examine and why. An important line of inquiry in my … [Read more…]
This post draws heavily on two books: Theory and Society: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science by Peter Godfrey-Smith and A Realist Approach to Qualitative Research by Joseph Maxwell. If the ideas discussed are of interest, then these books are worth checking out as well as Cheryl Misak’s books on pragmatism. Godfrey-Smith (2003) defines … [Read more…]
I recently re-read Fligstein et al’s paper ‘Seeing Like the Fed’ which asks: “Why was the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee that sets monetary policy in the USA] so sanguine in its economic projections?” That is, why were the FOMC “so slow to recognize the impending collapse of the financial system [during the GFC] and … [Read more…]
I recently discovered Kevin deLaplante’s great podcast The Critical Thinker (link). An episode that recently got my interest discusses Mercier and Sperber’s argumentative theory reason, a theory of human reason that I used in my doctoral research. Similarly to my approach of mobilising insights from both social and psychological/cognitive sciences to understand and enhance knowledge … [Read more…]
This post shifts focus slightly to consider social science and some of the key ideas I’ve considered over recent years and begun to embrace regarding the goals of social science, social research practices, and some philosophical aspects of such inquiry. Amongst other considerations, my current view is that social inquiry should have explanatory aims; can … [Read more…]
Yesterday I read an interesting book chapter on the evidence-based practice movement. The author (Dennis M. Gorman from Texas A&M University) argues that is a major driver of pseudoscience in various public health practice areas (the chapter focusses on drug prevention research). Gorman presents evidence of “questionable data analysis practices to produce positive results” – and related gaming … [Read more…]
In his book The Invention of Science David Wootton argues that “the idea of discovery is … a precondition for the invention of science” (p.54) and, linked with this, that the idea of discovery itself had to be invented. He points to the works of Francis Bacon which “built a philosophy of science around the … [Read more…]