Science as Power: Discourse and Ideology in Modern Society (Language, Discourse, Society) - Softcover

Aronowitz, Stanley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 033347547X ISBN 13: 9780333475478

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 1988

Synopsis

Science, argues the author, has established itself as not merely the dominant, but the only legitimate form of human knowledge. By tying its truth claims to methodology, science has claimed independence from the influence of social and historical conditions. Science is therefore seen as an authority beyond critique, whose norms and values are neutral, self-evident and absolute. Aronowitz asserts that the norms of science are by no means self-evident and that science is best seen as a socially constructed discourse that legitimates its power by presenting itself as truth. He first discusses science and technology as hegemony, noting that fundamentalist religion, the ecology movement and radical feminism have all challenged the scientific worldview in recent years. He then examines Marx's theory of science and traces shifting notions of science and its discourse within the Marxist tradition - including the work of the Frankfurt School and Habermas. In the last part, he explores developments in philosophy, history and sociology of science that have begun to question its conceptions of truth and knowledge, but which still remain within the scientific discourse. Aronowitz ends with a call for a social theory of science that combines critical distance with historical analysis.

About this title

About the Author

Stanley Aronowitz has taught at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York since 1983, where he is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education. He received his B.A. at the New School in 1968 and his Ph.D from the Union Graduate School in 1975. He studies labor, social movements, science and technology, education, social theory and cultural studies and is director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Technology and Work at the Graduate Center.He is author or editor of twenty-five books including: Against Schooling: For an Education that Matters (2008); Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (2006); Just Around Corner (2005); How Class Works (2003); The Last Good Job in America (2001); The Knowledge Factory (2000); The Jobless Future (1994, with William DiFazio); and False Promises: The Shaping of American Working Class Consciousness (1973, 1992).

From the Back Cover

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Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 033347547X
• ISBN 13: 9780333475478
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 397