Comparative Area Studies: Why We Need Contextualized Cross-Regional Comparison

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

This roundtable examines critical issues related to the place of area studies and of the comparative method in research and teaching across social science disciplines. These issues are the focus of a wide-ranging anthology to be published by Oxford University Press, COMPARATIVE AREA STUDIES: METHODOLOGICAL RATIONALES AND CROSS-REGIONAL APPLICATIONS. The volume highlights the fact that area studies research, while historically a crucial source for new observations and theoretical concepts, risks becoming marginalized in the social sciences without targeted efforts to demonstrate its broader relevance and utility. Comparative Area Studies (CAS) captures one such effort. It emphasizes cross-regional contextualized comparison to balance (i) deep attention to local context and area specific scholarly debate with (ii) finessed use of the comparative method to identify portable "middle range" ideas. This approach does not subsume existing approaches to research and training. But, it shows how the pursuit of area-specific knowledge and the building of disciplinary knowledge constitutes a positive-sum game and facilitates greater dialogue across different kinds of scholarly communities and disciplines. The roundtable is co-chaired by two of the volume's editors and several researchers who will discuss how the general approach of CAS and the strategy of cross-regional contextualized comparison can be operationalized and leveraged in exploring a wide range of substantive puzzles, from the historical roots of electoral systems reforms and the dynamics of separatist rebellions to the impact of resource booms on instituiton-building and the logic of anti-corruption campaigns in hybrid or authoritarian regimes.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 46: Qualitative and Multi-Method Research

Chair

• Rudra Sil University of Pennsylvania

Presenters

• Amel F. Ahmed University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• Calvin Chen Mount Holyoke College

• Cheng Chen SUNY, Albany

• Ryan Saylor University of Tulsa

• Benjamin Smith University of Florida

• Christian von Soest GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

• Roselyn Hsueh Temple University