Exploring the many Facets of Failure in Academia
Most of the people working in academia who watched The Chair, which aired this summer, were probably filled with a … Continue ReadingExploring the many ...
Branding of cities: to whom is the city advertized and what fundamental idea lies behind it?
“Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief”, is one of the … Continue ReadingBranding of cities: ...
How Postmodernism Advanced Populism: An Inside Story From The Netherlands
There are many factors that explain the upheaval of populism. Postmodernism is one of them. In the Netherlands, certainly the … Continue ReadingHow Postmodernism Advanced ...
Why Does Fieldwork Matter? Reflections On Immersion, The Everyday & Knowledge Creation In Hong Kong
“If the RMB depreciates, Southbound trading goes through the roof!” A conversation overheard in Central Ideas about the borderless world … Continue ReadingWhy Does Fieldwork ...
The Limits Of Survey Data: What Questionnaires Can’t Tell Us
All research methodologies have their limitations, as many authors have pointed before (see for example Visser, Krosnick and Lavrakas, 2000). … Continue ReadingThe Limits Of ...
Intellectual monocultures, black swans & the failure of economics: lessons from the global financial crisis and austerity
One of the most pressing challenges to the global economy has been the global financial crisis of 2007 – … Continue ReadingIntellectual monocultures, black ...
Keeping Social Science Relevant: Society Needs Clear Prose
If somebody were to ask me what I do all day as a student of the social sciences, my answer … Continue ReadingKeeping Social Science ...
What Do Education Scholars Know?
Some time ago Martin Spiewak stated in the German quality-weekly Die Zeit that an awful lot of undisputed knowledge existed … Continue ReadingWhat Do Education ...
Are There Too Many PhDs?
In all OECD countries, but in particular in Germany, there seems to be an enormous overproduction of PhDs – in … Continue ReadingAre There Too ...
Academic Conferences Should Be Outlawed
It’s conference season! Thousands and thousands of social scientists are flying around to visit conferences. The American Sociological Association gathers … Continue ReadingAcademic Conferences Should ...
Economists Looking For God
A science is not called a discipline by coincidence: its students are actively and deliberately disciplined to think and behave … Continue ReadingEconomists Looking For ...