Sitting on the Shoulders of Giants
A Retrospective View on Innovation in Political Science
First Edition
How does the discipline of political science change? How are new ideas produced? How are they validated and rewarded? Do disciplines evolve primarily through internal developments or through external contributions? Through gradual evolutions or revolutions? Read More
Does change occur by importing ideas and insights from neighbouring disciplines, by challenging disciplinary boundaries, or through incursions into political science made by scholars from more or less proximate disciplinary fields?
Sitting on the Shoulders of Giants explores how intellectual innovation happens in political science; how new ideas emerge; how novel concepts and methods are introduced and validated in the discipline. It focuses on the intellectual contributions of ten influential authors, including Carl Schmitt, Karl Polanyi, Antonio Gramsci, Erving Goffman, Peter L. Berger, Barbara Geddes, Judith Butler, Andrew Moravcsik and Mark Blyth.
While recognizing the role of agency and contingency, the book draws on the heuristic concepts of layering, displacement, and conversion to highlight the path-dependency of change in political science. By tracing different pathways to change, it shows that innovation generally is gradual, context-dependent, and shaped by circulations across disciplinary boundaries.
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Specifications
- Publisher
- Éditions de l'Université de Bruxelles
- Contributions by
- Gemander Ariane, Nevache Claire, Bescotti Elia, Laetitia Falcon de Longevialle, Panzano Guido, Bailly Jessy, Schmeer Laura, Happersberger Simon, Massart Tom,
- Edited by
- Ramona Coman, Christian Olsson,
- Collection
- Political Science | n° 73
- ISSN
- 13786571
- Language
- English
- Title First Published
- 18 June 2026
- Includes
- Bibliography
Paperback
- Product Detail
- 1
- Publication Date
- 12 June 2026
- ISBN-13
- 978-2-8004-1946-6
- Product Content
- Text (eye-readable)
- Extent
- Absolute page count : 252
- Code
- 1946
- Dimensions
- 16.3 x 21.2 x 0.9 cm
- Weight
- 370 grams
- ONIX XML
- Version 2.1, Version 3
Google Book Preview
Contents
Introduction. Innovation and Change in Political Science
Ramona Coman and Christian Olsson
Chapter I
Between Law, the International and the 'Political'
Carl Schmitt in Political Science
Elia Bescotti
Chapter II
Karl Polanyi
Institutions and the Reception of Economic Ideas
Simon Happersberger
Chapter III
The Gramscian Legacy
Rethinking the Role of Ideology in Power Theories
Ariane Gemander
Chapter IV
Peter Berger
Pioneer of Constructivism Despite Himself
Claire Nevache
Chapter V
Erving Goffman
The Analysis of Politics through a Microsociological
Perspective
Jessy Bailly
Chapter VI
Andrew Moravcsik
A Critical Review of His Contribution to the Field
of European Studies
Laura Schmeer
Chapter VII
Barbara Geddes
A Master of Comparative Politics
Guido Panzano
Chapter VIII
Why Should We Take Ideas Seriously?
A Review of Mark Blyth's Contribution to the Ideational Turn
in Political Science
Tom Massart
Chapter IX
Judith Butler
In the Margins of Political Theory
Laetitia Falcon de Longevialle
List of Contributors