Crises in (Social) Science: Lessons from the Case of German Sociology?

• In Event: Reproducibility and Other Problems: Practical and Institutional Responses to Contemporary Crises in Science - II

Abstract

Dealing constantly with crises while itself being in constant crisis – the paper focuses on sociology as the social science that is fueled by constant (dis-)continuity: Its research methods, its social relevance, its political role are objects of continuous debates. Without a doubt, deep controversies can be identified as a leitmotif of German-speaking sociology and even make for a structuring narrative of their long and rather successful history. Yet, at present German Sociology seems to break in two for good – epistemologically and institutionally, alike.

In 2017, a group of researchers felt so underrepresented in the German Sociological Association that they founded a rival organization claiming to save sociology and its scientific fundaments, values and aims. The declared aim of the so called ‘Akademie für Soziologie’: „Making the world a better place to live by strict analytical and solid empirical research.“ Its credo: „cumulatively building up knowledge“ and „evidence-based social policy”. Its nightmare: a sociology missing out on New Technologies, on Big Data, instead drowning in inner-disciplinary discussions as l’art pour l’art, being useless in socio-political contexts.

Short: Currently, German-speaking sociology’s plurality of conceptual approaches is challenged by the claim for sole legitimate representation from this new organization. The stakes are high – media attention, editorial power, career options, credibility, even scientific truth – and resemble the ones in contemporary crises in science. Thus, the paper will discuss if this is due to similar reasons and yields similar responses. It draws on discourse analyses of ongoing developments of crises in (social) science.

Author

• Barbara Sutter, TU Munich