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<BODY>Dear colleagues,
<P>With this note I would like to let you know that my new book MAKING SOCIAL
SCIENCE MATTER: WHY SOCIAL INQUIRY FAILS AND HOW IT CAN SUCCEED AGAIN has just
been published by Cambridge University Press. The book is being published as a
CUP textbook. I include the following for your information:
<P>- The Table of Contents <BR>- The book's back cover text.
<P>I hope this is useful. Please feel free to forward this message to any
relevant person or listserv.
<P>If this mail is of no interest to you, I am sorry and apologize for the
inconvenience. Also apologies for any cross posting.
<P>Best wishes,
<P>Bent Flyvbjerg, Professor <BR>Aalborg University, Dept. of Development and
Planning <BR>9220 Aalborg, Denmark <BR>email: <A
href="mailto:flyvbjerg@i4.auc.dk">flyvbjerg@i4.auc.dk</A> <BR>
<P><B>CONTENTS: MAKING SOCIAL SCIENCE MATTER</B> <BR>Acknowledgments
<BR>1. The Science Wars: A Way Out <BR>PART ONE: WHY
SOCIAL SCIENCE HAS FAILED AS SCIENCE <BR>2. Rationality,
Body, and Intuition in Human Learning <BR>3. Is Theory
Possible in Social Science? <BR>4. Context Counts
<BR>PART TWO: HOW SOCIAL SCIENCE CAN MATTER AGAIN <BR>5.
Values in Social and Political Inquiry <BR>6. The Power
of Example <BR>7. The Significance of Conflict and Power
to Social Science <BR>8. Empowering Aristotle
<BR>9. Methodological Guidelines for a Reformed Social
Science <BR>10. Examples and Illustrations: Narratives of
Value and Power <BR>11. Social Science That Matters <BR>Notes
<BR>Index <BR>
<P><B>FROM THE BACK COVER OF MAKING SOCIAL SCIENCE MATTER</B> <BR>MAKING SOCIAL
SCIENCE MATTER presents an exciting new approach to the social and behavioral
sciences. Instead of trying to emulate the natural sciences and create a kind of
general theory, Bent Flyvbjerg argues that the strength of the social sciences
lies in their rich, reflexive analysis of values and power--so essential to the
social and economic development of society. Moving beyond the purely analytic or
technical, Flyvbjerg compares the theoretical study of human activity with
real-world situations and demonstrates how the social sciences can become
relevant again in the modern world. Powerfully argued, with clear methodological
guidelines and practical examples, MAKING SOCIAL SCIENCE MATTER opens up a new
future for the social sciences, freed from an inappropriate and misleading
comparison with the natural sciences. Its empowering message will make it
required reading for students and academics across the social and behavioral
sciences.
<P><B>PIERRE BOURDIEU, COLLEGE DE FRANCE</B>: "This is social science that
matters."
<P><B>ROBERT N. BELLAH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY</B>: "This is a
book I have been waiting for for a long time. It opens up entirely new
perspectives for social science by showing us that abandoning the aspiration to
be like natural science is the beginning of wisdom about what we can and ought
to be doing instead. It is a landmark book that deserves the widest possible
reading and discussion."
<P><B>ED SOJA, SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, UCLA</B>: "This
brilliant contextualization of social inquiry, hinging on both Aristotle and
Foucault, gives new meaning to the concept of praxis. It will be of interest to
everyone concerned with making democracy work."
<P><B>STEVEN LUKES, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY</B>: "Flyvbjerg, author of RATIONALITY
AND POWER: DEMOCRACY IN PRACTICE, an innovative, fine-grained and
civically-engaged study of local power in Denmark, here reflects, in accessible
and pleasurable prose, on large, challenging questions: What, fundamentally,
makes social science different from natural science? Why is it relatively so
poor in producing cumulative and predictive theories? What kinds of knowledge
should it seek and with what methods? His answers, drawing on Nietzsche,
Foucault, Bourdieu and others, are worth the close attention of those
predisposed to reject them out of hand."
<P>There's more information about the book at <A
href="http://www.us.cambridge.org">www.us.cambridge.org</A> and <A
href="http://www.uk.cambridge.org">www.uk.cambridge.org</A>. <BR>
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