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Why social scientists should engage with natural scientists

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  • Philip Lowe
  • Jeremy Phillipson
  • Katy Wilkinson

Abstract

It has become part of the mantra of contemporary science policy that the resolution of besetting problems calls for the active engagement of a wide range of sciences. The paper reviews some of the key challenges for those striving for a more impactful social science by engaging strategically with natural scientists. It argues that effective engagement depends upon overcoming basic assumptions that have structured past interactions: particularly, the casting of social science in an end-of-pipe role in relation to scientific and technological developments. These structurings arise from epistemological assumptions about the underlying permanence of the natural world and the role of science in uncovering its fundamental order and properties. While the impermanence of the social world has always put the social sciences on shakier foundations, twenty-first century concerns about the instability of the natural world pose different epistemological assumptions that summon a more equal, immediate and intense interaction between field and intervention oriented social and natural scientists. The paper examines a major research programme that has exemplified these alternative epistemological assumptions. Drawing on a survey of researchers and other sources it seeks to draw out the lessons for social/natural science cross-disciplinary engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Lowe & Jeremy Phillipson & Katy Wilkinson, 2013. "Why social scientists should engage with natural scientists," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 207-222, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:207-222
    DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.769617
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    Cited by:

    1. Marra, Alessandro & Antonelli, Paola & Agostinone, Stefano & Raucci, Domenico, 2018. "Opening Pandora's box of twenty years of research on energy policies: On the rise of a ‘technology-driven’ debate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 542-550.
    2. Sandro Serpa & Carlos Miguel Ferreira & Ana Isabel Santos, 2017. "Fostering Interdisciplinarity: Implications for Social Sciences," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 5(12), pages 44-49, December.
    3. Stephanie Jahn & Jens Newig & Daniel J. Lang & Judith Kahle & Matthias Bergmann, 2022. "Demarcating transdisciplinary research in sustainability science—Five clusters of research modes based on evidence from 59 research projects," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 343-357, April.
    4. Xue Cheng & Qingpu Zhang, 2018. "How to Develop the Interdisciplinary Innovation Teams Sustainably?—A Simulation Model from a Perspective of Knowledge Fission and Fusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    5. Rhian A. Salmon & Rebecca K. Priestley & Joanna Goven, 2017. "The reflexive scientist: an approach to transforming public engagement," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(1), pages 53-68, March.

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