Profession et pouvoir en sciences sociales aux États-Unis

Abstract

Norman Bowen, Profession and Power in the Social Sciences in the United States The professionalization of social science in the United States resulted in a utilitarian rather than a pure conception of science. University-based social scientists established knowledge claims based on positivist theories of science, but did so as part of a large strategy aimed at influencing progressive reform, gaining access to government and obtaining reliable independent sources of financial support. Science was indissociable from a belief in American democracy itself. Formalized ties to government research and private foundations allowed for expanded legitimacy and especially considerable influence over the process of the restructuring of the American state in the Twentieth Century. However, social science remained vulnerable to partisan attacks inherent in the American political process, especially periodic anti-communism, and generally defended itself with claims to scientific neutrality.