Subfield Hockey

A Reaction to Matthew Moore's National Survey of Political Theorists

Bibliographic Data

ID12384116
AuthorsKennan Ferguson (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume43
Issue2
Pages275-277
Publication date2010-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1049096510000132
OpenAlexW2154342026
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

This survey's importance comes not from what it informs us about political theory as a field, but rather from the function it serves within debates over the component areas of the field of political science. Rather than answering whether political theory “belongs” within political science (an unanswerable question), the survey uses quantification of qualitative experience and data collection to consolidate political theory as a subfield. Thus success of this project relies upon and reinforces disciplinary norms, operating as a process that attempts to bring a normative political theory into existence. The rank ordering of departments, journals, and individual theorists proves appealing not only for the competitive, horse-race valuation of those people and institutions, but also for how they ultimately resist this project by showing the anti-normative heart of political theory: an important and useful survey indeed

Discipline · Economics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Function (biology · Normative · Political methodology · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social science · Sociology · Systems theory in political science · Valuation (finance · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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