Social Science Research Council

by Craig Calhoun

"Benazir Bhutto was my classmate at Oxford in the 1970s." So begins an essay by SSRC President Craig Calhoun reflecting on Bhutto's assassination and the importance of social science knowledge to providing the context for understanding such events.

Public engagement was a strong feature of the social sciences from their birth. In this new essay, SSRC President Craig Calhoun considers why the concept of public social science seems so much more challenging to today's social scientists, particularly those who work within the academy. He suggests steps that could be taken to turn the situation around.

Open scientific communication is essential for advancing democratic goals. Then why is the United States closing its borders to important social scientists, such as Tariq Ramadan of Switzerland and Adam Habib of South Africa? According to SSRC President Craig Calhoun, this policy impoverishes not only the social sciences, which are prevented from becoming truly global, but also society as a whole, which loses out on important opportunities to advance public knowledge.