By Alvin I. Goldman (NHC Fellow, 1981–82) A certain conception of social epistemology is articulated and applied to numerous social arenas. This conception retains epistemology's traditional interest in truth and reliable inquiry, but replaces its customary emphasis on solitary knowers with a focus on social institutions and interpersonal practices. Postmodernism, science studies, and pragmatism pose … Continued
By Sally Haslanger (NHC Fellow, 1995–96)
By Richard M. Dorson (NHC Fellow, 1978–79) Most of Richard Dorson’s thirty years as folklorist have been spent collecting tales and legends in the remote backcountry, far from the centers of population. For this book he extended his search for folk traditions to one of the most heavily industrialized sections of the United States. Can folklore … Continued
By John F. Kasson (NHC Fellow, 1980–81; 2009–10) With keen insight and subtle humor, John F. Kasson explores the history and politics of etiquette from America's colonial times through the nineteenth century. He describes the transformation of our notion of "gentility," once considered a birthright to some, and the development of etiquette as a middle-class … Continued
By Jerzy Szacki (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) Szacki defines liberalism in an Eastern European context – in terms of its historical background, the lack of a liberal tradition in the region, and its incompatibility with the communist state.
By Sarah Farmer (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) At the close of the twentieth century, even as globalization spurred the growth of megacities worldwide, inhabiting the French countryside had become an internationally-shared fantasy and practice. Accounts of moving into old farmhouses were bestsellers, and houses and barns built by peasants had been renovated as second homes throughout … Continued
By Abraham Edel (NHC Fellow, 1978–79) The problem created by diverse and competing modes of conceptual analysis that have been employed in the social disciplines is the topic of this first volume of the Science, Ideology, and Value series. How such conflicts are to be interpreted is the main philosophical task of this book. The introductory essay … Continued
By Jerzy Szacki (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) This study is devoted to recent developments in Central European (especially Polish) political thought, and concentrates on the emergence of liberal ideas, a subject largely neglected by Western observers. It provides a clear account of protoliberal and liberal thinking in Central Europe both before and after 1989, a critical … Continued
By Andrew Jewett (NHC Fellow, 2013–14) Americans today are often skeptical of scientific authority. Many conservatives dismiss climate change and Darwinism as liberal fictions, arguing that “tenured radicals” have coopted the sciences and other disciplines. Some progressives, especially in the universities, worry that science’s celebration of objectivity and neutrality masks its attachment to Eurocentric and … Continued
By Lee D. Baker (NHC Fellow, 2003–04) In the late nineteenth century, if ethnologists in the United States recognized African American culture, they often perceived it as something to be overcome and left behind. At the same time, they were committed to salvaging “disappearing” Native American culture by curating objects, narrating practices, and recording languages. … Continued