Research Paper on Unlocking Social Science: Exploring its Growth & Development

Introduction

Social science is the scientific study of people or groups of people, such as economies, societies, firms, groups, and their collective as well as individual behavior. Traditionally, social sciences are classified into disciplines such as sociology- which is the science of social groupings, psychology- the science of people behavior, history- the science of past human events, economics and political sciences. The growth and development of social science have seen the emergence of one dominant type of studying people. Western social science is the study of humans and their groups from Eurocentric perspectives. In the past decades, there have been a lot of critics from Eastern and African scholars against the use of Western social science methodologies, perspectives, theories, and assumptions in the study of non-western people and their groups (Roets & Molapo, 2019). In African, particularly, western social science poses a significant challenge in the study of various aspects of people and their grouping in Africa. The assumptions and ideo-cultural biases evident in the epistemology of western social science pose significant challenges that must be addressed to create a valid "African body of science."

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History of Western Social Science

For several decades there has been considerable debate discussing whether social sciences are western or Euro-centric and the suitability using it's in non-western people. From a historical perspective, modern social science has a long history of growth that dates back to the Renaissance era in Western Europe and Italian City Republics. Besides, the increased supremacy of the U.S.A. at the beginning of the century 20th century have made social science to be dominated by western ideologies (Levac et al., 2018). Nevertheless, social science was not invented by the west, since all cultures in the world have some aspect of social theory often contained in the religious context and are manifested through legal regulations. Since science is part of a culture, it is difficult to separate culture from the study of social science.

The Rise of the Epistemology of Western Social Science

At around 1600, during the Age of Enlightenment, reason emerged as means against faith and prejudice that led to bourgeois revolutions. The reason at the time was, however, limited since religion was never wiped out. Since then, logic has been guided by rationality, which, according to Max Weber, there is two types of rationality, those of means and those of targets (Dufoix, 2018). Rationality in social science applies in power relationships as much as it is used in military, industry, and bureaucracy. The application of rationality in social science by western society has predominately been meant to serve in the power relationship between then and non-western communities. The power relationship aspect of western social science has led many scholars to downplay the critical element of non-western culture because the epistemology of the west used to study these cultures are biased and based on assumptions do not fit into African contexts (Roets & Molapo, 2019). Epistemology, as a theory of knowledge, in terms of methods, scope, validity, and the distinction between opinion and justified belief plays a critical role in the impact of western social science on the creation of the African body of knowledge.

In the 16th century, before the age of Enlightenment, European and African way of thinking on all essential matters affecting human activity was relatively similar. During the period, culture and religion played a critical role in explaining social events (Potter, 2016). However, with the historical development in the west, the emergence of secular thought ushered in the difference in thinking between the two societies. As a result, in Europe, religion as the basis for understanding human activities was replaced by a new dualistic approach that differentiates the flesh and the soul. As a result of this development, the methods of studying social phenomena in the two societies took different paths. Looking at that historical discussion of major social issues in Europe between 1500 and 1550, it is evident there is a constant appeal to morality and Christian values (Jokic et al., 2017). However, from the mid-17th century, the economic discussion is discussed in terms of profitability rather than from the religious perspective. This transition in thinking from sacred to secular is perceived as the triumph of reason over superstition (Rosenblatt, 2016). Secular thinking became the main principle of social science at a later age. In this case, reason means "science' while culture and religion are considered superstition.

Consequently, the study of the history of ancient Africa is considered superstition because most activities were highly influenced by religious beliefs (Levac et al., 2018). The new age of Enlightenment convinced many scholars in Europe that they were emerging from centuries of ignorance and darkness into a new era of science and reason. These beliefs became the guiding principles in the epistemology of social science in the west.

The decline in religious faith in Europe and the onset of secular thinking is primarily attributed to the consequence of moral decay among the upper echelon of religious leaders. The moral corruption in Europe among the Popes changed the history of the continet(Potter, 2016). The incident led to the rise of Protestants' church against the Catholics. The resulting conflicts between the two religious groups convinced the Europeans that religion was not effective in bringing order to society. Religious leaders from the two sides also realized that social harmony could not be arrived in society by using spiritual principles that often invoked conflicts and controversy (Dufoix, 2018). This event became the primary motivation behind the rise of secular thinking across Europe. As a result, instead of using religious principles, factual knowledge, and reason were used in society (Rosenblatt, 2016). With the rejection of the religious tenets, studying Africa's history became difficult since the African culture is an intertwined combination of region, social, and economic practice (Ashton et al., 2020). Interestingly, the history of Africa, particularly Egypt, dates back more than a millennium, while Europe's history begins much later.

Western social science is, therefore, an effort to provide answers to a critical question by using other means other than a culture that has some aspects of religious beliefs. However, is ancient Africa was a predominately religious society, western social science cannot provide answers to the continent's past (Roets & Molapo, 2019). As a result, it is wrong to accept biased western social science as the face value in the study of Africa and its ancient people. Failure to appreciate the problems associated with the application of western social science in the study of Africa has been the primary source of the issues in an attempt to develop an African body of knowledge.

The management system for Western knowledge and social understanding is rigid, and the academic world only accepts ideas from other groups if they adopt methodologies and approaches from other groups if they adapt to their system (Jokic et al., 2017). Such a system of knowledge transcends to the study of the history of African societies. The resulting epistemology perceives the integration and multiculturalism of knowledge in terms of other groups adopting its canon.

Impacts of Western Social Science on African Knowledge

Most of the available history of Africa has been defined, investigated, and presented from the perspective of the West, creating a clear bias in painting the continent. Western description of Africa pain the continent as needy instead of focusing on its contribution to the history of humankind. History of Africans and the continent as a whole is evidently characterized by systemic bias, where it is under-represented in terms of the continents' perspective, participation, and content (Potter, 2016). The most effective way of getting around such barriers is by increasing the number of African academic literature and voices. Achieving such progress while avoiding superficial paternalist and quota approaches, appreciating valid connections, with an honest acceptance of view from others (Jokic et al., 2017). The problems caused by Western social science in studying non-Western societies and Africa, in particular, has led to the rise of theorists who have proposed that knowledge should be decolonized.

According to the western social science epistemology, knowledge is only valid if it can be proved. Along these lines, the concept of dual perspective does not exist on matters of knowledge. Boiso (2015), however, supports the idea of dual perspective by analyzing gender from the African perspective alongside the pre-established western social science assumptions. In his analysis, analysis questioned the dichotomy between woman and man, such as connecting it with the nuclear family's role in the European culture (Mkandawire, 2015). In this society, a woman's role in society is considered predefined and that women fight for liberation. He provides a renewed perspective by showing that realities vary from one place to another. For example, the African reality is not the only possible reality in the world, while the way Africans categories issues are not the only possible way of categorizing knowledge as well (Rosenblatt, 2016). For instance, there is much organization of social and family systems in Africa, where the role of women varies from the role of women in European communities. As a result, it is wrong to study different aspects of African women using western epistemology in studying African social science.

Another example of a dual perspective, however, from the Arab world, the study of feminism. Adibi Sibai (2014), in her research on Islamic feminism, give an example of a situation where dual perspective is evident in the study of feminism among Islam from the Eurocentric perspective. Consequently, she proposed the need to decolonize the study of Islam. She showed that there are different ways of perceiving various aspects of Islam, especially, women based on the assumption that the modern way of thinking in Islam is also affected the western perspective (Potter, 2016). Besides, she suggested that intercultural studies will continue to be difficult if the West continues to assume that their categories apply across the world, even in trying to understand other non-western cultures and their system.

In the face of the identity crisis evident in society, the world needs Africa more than ever. The problem with the epistemology of western social science is that in the process of questioning and reaffirming itself, its aims at strengthening their position in the world by denying the existence of the remaining community, thus building boundaries and walls that limit their identity (Levac et al., 2018). The attempt to turn Europe into a safe and superior space at the expense of others is making the rest of the world not safe. The awareness of Europe populism evident in many European parliaments that criminalize and reject others because they are different (Rosenblatt, 2016). The same case applies to African history from an African perspective that is often subjected to prejudice from the western world. For instance, the social science literature from African universities does not enjoy the same status as those from European and American universities.

An example of Eurocentric biases towards African studies is evident in the draw...