Crisis or flowering?
Eastern European social sciences research
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In the social sciences, Area Studies have become less important. However, this does not mean that social scientists reject regional research per se, particularly when it is based on accepted methods and theories. It depends on how the discipline views itself, and how it is organised internally, whether economists, political scientists and sociologists regard Area Studies as being useful. Illiberal tendencies, nationalism, the functioning and the stability of authoritarian regimes are also of relevance for the main disciplines. However, the increasing restrictions in the authoritarian systems in Eastern Europe make it harder to research these topics. The division of labour between academics from the east and west in Eastern European research is becoming almost impossible
(Osteuropa 1-2/2020, pp. 179–191)