Imaginative Methodologies in the Social Sciences: Creativity, Poetics and Rhetoric in Social Research(Classical and Contemporary Social Theory)

Imaginative Methodologies in the Social Sciences develops, expands and challenges conventional social scientific methodology and language by way of literary, poetic and other alternative sources of inspiration, as sociologists, social workers, anthropologists, criminologists and psychologists all rethink, provoke and reignite social scientific methodology. Challenging the mainstream orthodoxy of social scientific methodology, which closely guards the boundaries between the social sciences and the arts and humanities, this volume reveals that authors and artists are often engaged in projects parallel to those of the social sciences and vice versa, thus demonstrating that artistic and cultural production does not necessarily constitute a specialist field, but is in fact integral to social reality. As such, it will be of interest to scholars and students in the social sciences and across the arts and humanities working on the philosophy of social science, methodology, social theory, creativity, poetics, pedagogy and other related topics.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements, List of Contributors, Introduction: Imaginative Methodologies: Creativity, Poetics and Challenges to Conventional Social Science, Part I Reading, Part II Writing, Part IIII Exploring, Part Iv Teaching, Index

About the Author :
Michael Hviid Jacobsen is Professor of Sociology at Aalborg University, Denmark, and co-editor of The Sociology of Zygmunt Bauman, Encountering the Everyday, The Transformation of Modernity, and Utopia: Social Theory and the Future. Michael S. Drake is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Hull, UK and author of Political Sociology for a Globalizing World, and Problematics of Military Power. Kieran Keohane is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at University College Cork, Ireland. He is co-author of Organization in Play, and co-editor of Irish Environmental Politics after the Communicative Turn, and The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization. Anders Petersen is Associate Professor of Sociology and Head of School at Aalborg University, Denmark and Chairman of The Danish Sociological Association. He is co-editor of The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization.

Review :
’Opening ourselves up to imaginative possibilities is an important corrective to sterile discussions on methodology. This collection of chapters, by leading and emerging authors, takes the reader on an insightful journey which advances our understanding of the contemporary world. For this reason it will appeal to those who, in their teaching and research, wish to explore how artistic and literary creativity enhances the methodological imagination.’ Tim May, University of Salford, UK ’Imaginative Methodologies is a call to embrace creativity, think unconventionally, write poetically, and find inspiration wherever we can as we study social life, grasp the human condition, and communicate sociological knowledge. Eager to expand my repertoire as a teacher, researcher, and writer, I am happy to accept the invitation.’ Todd Schoepflin, Niagara University, USA ’This is a sociological treat. Instead of the false security provided by traditional books on methodology the reader is invited into the many worlds of the sociological imagination. Here doing social science - researching, writing and teaching - is taken seriously as an art form, open to experiments and innovative approaches.’ Orvar Löfgren, Lund University, Sweden