Alternative Social Science

Now is the time for social scientists to take responsibility for guiding societal improvement.

Twenty-first-century societies are rapidly changing. We’re witnessing historic levels of partisan discord and institutional breakdown, and multiple simultaneous sea changes in norms around gender and ethnic identity, sexual expression, and the definitions of criminality. These political and cultural shifts, often amplified and accelerated through Internet platforms, are occurring alongside major economic upheavals, including the deaths and births of entire industries, renewed international trade wars, and inequality levels rivaling those of feudal times. Worse, there is no end in sight for these tumultuous trends. What are people to do? How are we to make sense of all this turmoil and find some working consensus about social reality (if not a social contract) allowing more of us to find a stable and comfortable way in the world?