How do we arrest the decline of the social sciences in Pakistan? Is it a matter of money or one of sending more students to the West who might then return to teaching at the local universities? In this article I argue that the solution lies elsewhere. Borrowing frames, concepts, and analytical techniques based on the concept of universalism runs a serious risk of imposing alien views on local problems. Moreover, attempts to become ‘scientific’ requires side stepping value judgments of good and bad. The current Western domination of the intellectual scene favours a single route for social science development, and kills all diversity. However, whilst we may borrow as much as we choose, we need to build our own frames that would underpin the social sciences, and this is possible only by reconnecting with our own past.
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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number
10477.
Length: Date of creation: Sep 2008 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Lahore Journal of Policy Studies 1.2(2008): pp. 125-134 Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:10477
Find related papers by JEL classification: A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines B29 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Other B59 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Other
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