“Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities
Advocates for the humanities have ongoing need of good work in the history of humanities as they canvas evidence of how the field has, in the past, sought to describe its contributions to knowledge and articulate the importance of its distinctive concentration on the objects, media, and value of cul...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Chicago University Press
2023
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| _version_ | 1811139233675476992 |
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| author | Small, H |
| author_facet | Small, H |
| author_sort | Small, H |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Advocates for the humanities have ongoing need of good work in the history of
humanities as they canvas evidence of how the field has, in the past, sought to describe its
contributions to knowledge and articulate the importance of its distinctive concentration on
the objects, media, and value of culture. Apprehending better which arguments have been
persuasive contextually and which have fared less well can help to sharpen defences for the
future and avoid errors of description (not least those that arise from blinkered perspectives
on whose culture and whose history are worth attending to). This forum contribution
considers the need to take a wide view of which disciplinary histories will be relevant—
reinforcing the Introduction’s observation that history of the humanities continues to
develop in close connection with history of knowledge, construed more generally. In recent
years numerous advocates have advanced claims that humanities disciplines are well
equipped (even uniquely equipped) to handle “wicked problems”—intractably complex
problems germane to the future flourishing of our societies and the planet. Returning to the
origins of the “wicked problems” concept within late 1960s urban planning, and subsequent
disputes within the social sciences over its validity, I argue that deploying it persuasively on
behalf of the humanities will require careful attention to a history which has left it with
uneven traction in other disciplines. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T03:58:43Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:f6ab94ba-98a3-44c6-91a3-ecc3e7d62243 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:02:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Chicago University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:f6ab94ba-98a3-44c6-91a3-ecc3e7d622432024-05-01T09:56:53Z“Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanitiesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f6ab94ba-98a3-44c6-91a3-ecc3e7d62243EnglishSymplectic ElementsChicago University Press2023Small, HAdvocates for the humanities have ongoing need of good work in the history of humanities as they canvas evidence of how the field has, in the past, sought to describe its contributions to knowledge and articulate the importance of its distinctive concentration on the objects, media, and value of culture. Apprehending better which arguments have been persuasive contextually and which have fared less well can help to sharpen defences for the future and avoid errors of description (not least those that arise from blinkered perspectives on whose culture and whose history are worth attending to). This forum contribution considers the need to take a wide view of which disciplinary histories will be relevant— reinforcing the Introduction’s observation that history of the humanities continues to develop in close connection with history of knowledge, construed more generally. In recent years numerous advocates have advanced claims that humanities disciplines are well equipped (even uniquely equipped) to handle “wicked problems”—intractably complex problems germane to the future flourishing of our societies and the planet. Returning to the origins of the “wicked problems” concept within late 1960s urban planning, and subsequent disputes within the social sciences over its validity, I argue that deploying it persuasively on behalf of the humanities will require careful attention to a history which has left it with uneven traction in other disciplines. |
| spellingShingle | Small, H “Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities |
| title | “Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities |
| title_full | “Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities |
| title_fullStr | “Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities |
| title_short | “Wicked problems”: humanities advocacy’s need for history of humanities |
| title_sort | wicked problems humanities advocacy s need for history of humanities |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT smallh wickedproblemshumanitiesadvocacysneedforhistoryofhumanities |