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List of Contributors

This volume was inspired by an unusual symposium held in 2006 at the London School of Economics and later expanded to include other scholars, the goal of which was to offer an overview of the social sciences through the lens of practiced historiography. Only two of the contributors are in history departments, but the other six have committed their careers to historical analysis of their given disciplines: psychology, economics, political science, sociology, social anthropology, and human geography (as listed in the TOC). The volume has been endorsed by a notable clutch of recognized names in the history of the social sciences, and the volume promises to reward its readers with an up-to-date treatment of each discipline, each within very short compass. The editors introduce the book in conventional fashion, but they also conclude it with a 50page summary of what came before, ‘‘Toward a History of the Social Sciences.’’ Not only is this a handy restatement and synthesis of the previous chapters’ high points, but it also offers a fine bibliography for that small but dedicated band of scholars who find the social sciences’ recent past worth their time. Naturally, one immediately turns to Jennifer Platt’s chapter on sociology, given normal disciplinary egocentricity, and the fact that Platt for decades has been one of our leading historians. Though British by training and professional location, she has studied sociology’s ‘‘progress’’ in France, Germany, the United States, and elsewhere. Her chapter is characteristically clear, mixing some hard data with the more usual historical recapitulation. She points out early on that the history of ‘‘great theorists’’ is not the same as the history of sociology in toto, so she emphasizes instead the way that social research has changed over time, rather than chronicling its ‘‘big ideas.’’ Platt also supplies broad summaries of developments surrounding associations and journals, ‘‘Topics and Specialisms,’’ theoretical and canonical changes, and research methods. She concludes with admiring references to those many sociologists outside the anglophone sphere who have recently declared their independence, and intention to create a frame of reference less indebted to the Anglo-American model of what sociology should be. The other chapters are equally well proportioned and interesting, especially as one can through them look behind the veil and see the workings of sister disciplines in a way that is not often available. And the long synthetic conclusion by the editors could well serve, as it was surely designed to do, as a launching pad for still another attempt to grapple with the history of the social sciences in a serious way which is genuinely interdisciplinary. We have excellent histories of disciplines now, particularly psychology and economics, but a communal meeting place where each pays attention to the other is more difficult to fashion, as the editors know too well.