Prelims

Half Title Page

Social Sciences

Title Page

Social Sciences: A Dying Fire

BY

Kléber Ghimire

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

© 2021 Kléber Ghimire. Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80117-042-0 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80117-041-3 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80117-043-7 (Epub)

Contents

Praise for Social Sciences: A Dying Fire

‘The social sciences are caught in an internecine web of internal debates, making the enterprise largely irrelevant to the vast majority of human life. This fact is brilliantly captured in A Dying Fire, in which Professor Kléber Ghimire insightfully describes the causes and consequences of the social sciences’ collective navel-gazing. Yet he does so not as a radical, eclectic project, but as an attempt to generate critical thinking essential to ensure continued relevance of these fields of study. De-centering Europe and North America is a vital step toward re-centering the value of the social sciences.’

Matthew F. Filner, Professor of Political Science and Faculty Association President, Metropolitan State University, Minnesota, USA.

‘This book digs deep in the history of social sciences and critically assesses their present uncertain positions. Its’ especially important contributions – and cannot be found easily elsewhere – are the reflections and analysis of the social sciences in Asian universities.’

Vesselin Popovski, Professor of Law and Vice Dean, O.P. Jindal Global University, Haryana, India.

‘This is a highly original interdisciplinary critique of social sciences. The book is most interesting and important for academics, students or anyone who want to rethink about the current nature of social sciences’ learning.’

Xiaoyuan Shang, Professor of Social Policy, Beijing Normal University, China.

‘This book persuasively explains why the social sciences should move beyond the narrow ideas of scientism, empiricism and professionalism toward a broader concept of learning and comprehensive thinking, and further conveys astoundingly deep knowledge about the commonalities and differences in the notion of learnedness and educational traditions of Western and Asian societies.’

Jin-Wook Shin, Professor of Sociology, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea.