Charles Tilly Interview: social science "paradigm"

Summary

The transcript discusses the distinction between paradigms in natural sciences and social sciences, highlighting the lack of a unified body of knowledge in the latter. It delves into the impact of consciousness in social sciences, the contested nature of these fields, and the challenges of formulating laws for large-scale social processes like war and revolution. The speaker advocates for methodological localism, emphasizing the importance of understanding individual interactions within institutions to build a coherent picture of social structures and processes.

Takeaways

• 🔬 Paradigms in natural sciences are more structured with established research methods and theories compared to social sciences which remain a contested terrain.
• 🌐 The social sciences lack a unified body of knowledge and procedures for verifying knowledge, leading to a more fluid and open field of study.
• 💡 The difference between social and natural sciences is often attributed to the consciousness of the social scientists, but this view is not universally accepted as creating a fundamental difference.
• 🌿 There's an argument that the social world is 'artificial' in the sense that its structures are created through human actions and interactions, unlike the natural world's given architecture.
• 🤔 The speaker suggests that the search for overarching laws in large social processes and structures has largely been unsuccessful.
• 🔍 A more fruitful approach might be to focus on understanding the mechanisms of interpersonal processes, which can then be compounded to understand larger social phenomena.
• 🌱 Drawing an analogy to evolutionary biology, the speaker implies that understanding small-scale interactions can lead to insights about larger patterns and processes.
• 🏛 The architecture of social institutions is not fixed by necessity but arises from historical events and interactions leading to specific configurations.
• 🛑 The speaker is skeptical about the existence of laws governing complex social phenomena like war or revolution, due to their contingent nature.
• 🔄 Methodological localism is proposed as a way to understand social structures and processes by starting from the individual level and building up.
• 🌟 Creativity and the ability to create complex arrangements are highlighted as distinctive human traits, setting us apart in the natural world.

Q & A

What is a paradigm in the context of natural science?

A paradigm in natural science refers to a framework containing a set of practices that includes specific research methods, theoretical concepts, and experimental procedures that the scientific community generally agrees upon and uses to guide inquiry.

Why is the social sciences' body of knowledge considered less connected than that of natural sciences?

The social sciences lack a unified and integrated body of knowledge with a set of procedures for verifying that knowledge, making it a more contested terrain with less consensus on methods and theories compared to natural sciences.

What is the common misconception about the difference between social sciences and natural sciences?

A common misconception is that the difference lies in consciousness, with social scientists being part of the processes they study. However, the speaker argues that this does not create a fundamental difference in the situation of knowledge.

How does the speaker view the role of consciousness in social sciences?

The speaker acknowledges that social scientists share consciousness with the processes they study, but they do not believe this produces a fundamental difference in knowledge, though it does allow moral and political concerns to influence the field.

What is the 'science of the artificial' as mentioned by Herbert Simon?

The 'science of the artificial' refers to the study of constructs and environments created by humans, distinguishing it from the natural sciences which study the naturally occurring world. It suggests that social sciences deal with man-made structures and systems.

What does the speaker suggest as a distinguishing factor between social and natural sciences?

The speaker suggests that the architecture of the social world is created by humans through actions and interactions, unlike the natural world's architecture, which is given, making the social sciences more about the 'artificial' rather than the 'natural'.

Why does the speaker believe that looking for laws of large social processes and structures has been largely unsuccessful?

The speaker believes that the complexity and contingency of social processes make it difficult to formulate universal laws. The social sciences deal with human interactions that are highly variable and less predictable than natural phenomena.

What is the concept of 'methodological localism' mentioned by the speaker?

Methodological localism is the idea of starting with the understanding of interpersonal processes and then building up to a larger understanding of social structures and processes, as opposed to trying to find overarching laws.

How does the analogy of evolutionary change in the natural world relate to social processes?

The analogy suggests that by focusing on the mechanisms of how individuals or smaller units respond to their environment, we can better understand and compound these observations into a more coherent picture of larger social processes and structures.

What does the speaker imply about the potential for understanding social processes through the study of interpersonal interactions?

The speaker implies that by studying interpersonal interactions, we may be able to build a more complex and accurate understanding of social processes, similar to how molecular biologists have developed a detailed understanding of biological processes.

How does the speaker view the role of political contestation in the social sciences?

The speaker views political contestation as an inherent part of the social sciences, as these fields often deal with issues that are open to political and moral debate, making them a contested terrain where new questions and perspectives continually emerge.