In “Why Social Science Risks Irrelevance,” danah boyd at Chronicle Review:
My path of inquiry, like that of most scientists, was shaped by the context in which I was operating. As a queer woman trying to sort out sexuality and identity, questions about gender felt natural. I was also a computer scientist at the time, but I knew that computer-science methods could not help me answer my question. So I embarked on a path that forced me to learn psychology, cognitive science, and gender studies. And, as a result, I began a lifelong battle to define my disciplinary identity. Am I a sociologist? An anthropologist? An internet-studies scholar? In the process, I quickly realized that I queered my disciplinary identity as a way of resolving my gender identity and sexuality. More.
Madam, why on earth do you think anyone cares? Government may force taxpayers to fund whatever you are doing and to choke out the words that it is “science.” But not to care.
The rock that will sink Boyd’s ship is that no one does care. Science is about something other than oneself.
See also: Who wants to pay taxes for social sciences?
and
EMS Crying Towel! Liberals attacking social sciences
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