Moving beyond critique: Practising the social sciences in the context of globalization, postmodernity and postcoloniality

Abstract

This paper addresses attempts to construct and practise regional varieties of social sciences in a global setting. It raises for discussion various themes and problematical issues that are deemed to be central to the task of further pushing the boundaries of the discourse on 'alternative' formulations of the social sciences. It is argued that critique is essential but, by itself, not sufficient to bring about fundamental changes in the social science domain. There is a need to ensure that these critiques are not merely superficially co-opted without decentring basic problematic assumptions inherent in mainstream social science traditions, and attend to the task of radically restructuring the institutional base of the social sciences, in order to practise them differently.