Abstract
Area Studies, that is, academic work focused on a specific geographic area and its phenomena, exists in the form of study programmes, institutes and departments in many European universities and research centres. European political scientists preoccupied with theoretical abstraction have also engaged, within the frame of Area Studies, with the production of context-rich knowledge. Although Area Studies have followed distinctive and non-linear paths of development, this approach to the study of social science is present in a considerable number of academic spaces in Europe. A debate on the value of Area Studies is also active in the context of a discussion on its capacity to dismantle ethnocentrism in science. Despite the dynamism of this discussion, little has been done to explore empirically how Area Studies have contributed or not to the diversification of Political Science. This paper seeks to remedy that omission and analyse whether an Area Studies approach to the study of Political Science, in particular, European Political Science, has contributed or not to making the discipline more diverse. To address this question, the paper presents some considerations that emerge from a review of the literature and from interviews with twenty researchers working in the field of Political Science in two European countries: Germany and Portugal.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Basedau, M. and Köllner, P. (2006) Area Studies and Comparative Area Studies: Opportunities and Challenges for the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
Cancela, J., Dias Coelho, T. and Ruivo, J. (2014) ‘Political research in Portugal: scientific articles in national academic journals’, European Political Science 13(4): 327–339.
Domínguez, J. (2009) ‘Don’t stay home: the utility of area studies for political science scholarship’, in G. King, K. Schlozman and N. Nie (eds.) The Future of Political Science: 100 Perspectives, New York: Routledge.
Dussel, E. (1993) ‘Europa, Modernidad y Eurocentrismo’, in E. Lander (ed.) La Colonialidad del Saber. Eurocentrismo y Ciencias Sociales. Perspectivas Latinoamericanas, 1st ed. Buenos Aires: FLACSO, pp. 41–53.
Dussel, E. (1996) The Underside of Modernity: Apel, Ricoeur, Rorty, Taylor and the Philosophy of Liberation. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press.
Hall, P. and Tarrow, S. (1998) ‘Globalization and area studies: When is too broad too narrow?’, Chronicle of Higher Education 40(20): 114–115.
Hountondji, P. (2016) ‘Recherche et extraversion: éléments pour une sociologie de la science dans les pays de la périphérie’, Africa Development 15(3/4): 149–158.
Huber, E. (2003) ‘Letter from the President: The role of cross-regional comparison’, Newsletter of the American Political Science Association Organized Section in Comparative Politics 14(2): 1–6.
Johnson, C. (1997) ‘Preconception versus observation, or the contributions of rational choice theory and area studies to contemporary political science’, Political Science & Politics 30(2): 170–174.
Mignolo, W.D. (1996) ‘Posoccidentalismo: las epistemologías fronterizas y el dilema de los estudios (latinoamericanos) de área’, Revista iberoamericana 62(176): 679–696.
Mignolo, W.D. (2002) ‘The geopolitics of knowledge and the colonial difference’, South Atlantic Quarterly 101(1): 57–96.
Said, E. (1979) Orientalism, New York: Vintage.
Sartori, G. (2016) ‘Compare why and how. Comparing, miscomparing and the comparative method’, in M. Dogan and A. Kazancigil (eds.) Comparing Nations: Concepts, Strategies, Substance, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 14–34.
Schüttemeyer, S. (2007) ‘The current state of political science in Germany’, in H. Klingemann (ed.) The State of Political Science in Western Europe, Farmington Hills: Barbara Budrich Publishers, pp. 163–186.
Szanton, D. (ed.) (2002) The Politics of Knowledge: Area Studies and the Disciplines, Berkely, CA: University of California Press.
Acknowledgments
This research has been funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement No 607133.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
INTERVIEWS AND DATES
- A.:
-
13. 11. 2015 GIGA
- B.:
-
19. 11. 2015 GIGA
- C.:
-
26. 11. 2015 GIGA
- D.:
-
08. 01. 2016 GIGA
- E.:
-
05. 01. 2016 GIGA
- F.:
-
13. 04. 2016 ICS-UL
- G.:
-
07. 04. 2016 ICS-UL
- H.:
-
05. 04. 2016 ICS-UL
- I.:
-
11. 04. 2016 ICS-UL
- J.:
-
21. 04. 2016 GIGA
- K.:
-
07. 04. 2016 GIGA
- L.:
-
12. 04. 2016 GIGA
- M.:
-
11.04. 2016 UHH
- N.:
-
07. 04. 2016 ICS-UL
- O.:
-
30.04. 2016 ICS-UL
- P.:
-
04.05. 2016 ICS-UL
- Q.:
-
06.05. 2015 UNL
- R.:
-
29.04.2016 UNL
- S.:
-
14.04. 2106 UHH
- T.:
-
02. 05. 2016 UHH
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
- GIGA:
-
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- ICS-UL:
-
Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon
- UHH:
-
University of Hamburg
- UNL:
-
Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University Nova of Lisbon
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de luna, m.r. are area studies diversifying european political science? perspectives from germany and portugal. Eur Polit Sci 15, 519–535 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-016-0075-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-016-0075-6