TY - JOUR
T1 - Traveling Concepts
T2 - Anthropological Engagements with Histories of Social Science
AU - Van Eekelen, Bregje F.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - This article discusses historical and anthropological approaches to the life of social science. After presenting the thematic of social science concepts that figure as found object in cultural anthropology, this review briefly introduces the domain of history of social science (HSS). It then examines HSS studies that could enrich anthropological encounters with social science concepts, both methodologically and through the vivid social histories of relevant concepts, categories, and methods. I complement my review of these approaches in HSS with a discussion of anthropological studies of social science concepts. I review both the historical and the anthropological literature with the same key questions, focused on the analytical tools that each approach brings to the study of social science: what conditions of emergence of these social imaginaries are incorporated in the analyses, what contexts and processes relevant to their appropriation and travel are presented, and how these enquiries examine the effects on the worlds in which they circulate. In my conclusion, I point out how cultural anthropology can uniquely contribute to the domain of HSS.
AB - This article discusses historical and anthropological approaches to the life of social science. After presenting the thematic of social science concepts that figure as found object in cultural anthropology, this review briefly introduces the domain of history of social science (HSS). It then examines HSS studies that could enrich anthropological encounters with social science concepts, both methodologically and through the vivid social histories of relevant concepts, categories, and methods. I complement my review of these approaches in HSS with a discussion of anthropological studies of social science concepts. I review both the historical and the anthropological literature with the same key questions, focused on the analytical tools that each approach brings to the study of social science: what conditions of emergence of these social imaginaries are incorporated in the analyses, what contexts and processes relevant to their appropriation and travel are presented, and how these enquiries examine the effects on the worlds in which they circulate. In my conclusion, I point out how cultural anthropology can uniquely contribute to the domain of HSS.
KW - knowledge production
KW - science in action
KW - social science history
KW - traveling concepts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144798762&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102317-050241
DO - 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102317-050241
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85144798762
SN - 0084-6570
VL - 51
SP - 251
EP - 269
JO - Annual Review of Anthropology
JF - Annual Review of Anthropology
ER -