Polar, social, science: a reflection on the characteristics and benefits of the polar social sciences

Abstract

With the rapid growth in the polar social sciences over the last decade, there has been little time to reflect upon the contributions that this family of academic disciplines may give to the Arctic and Antarctic pool of knowledge. There is even some vagueness about which disciplines might reasonably be included under the term “social science”. This article considers some of these contributions and notes some of their similarities and dissimilarities with the natural sciences. One critical difference is the locus of the data. Because the social sciences investigate phenomena that arise from the interaction of human beings, individually or collectively, there is no requirement that the data originate in the polar regions. The article discusses the implication of this, and other, characteristics with respect to the unique value of polar social science research.

Keywords:

• polar social science
• Arctic
• Antarctic

Acknowledgements

Although they must remain anonymous, I would like to publicly thank all the reviewers who have given their time and expertise when considering the manuscripts. Their thoughtful comments – often provided at very short notice – have improved the content of this issue. I would also like to thank the Editor-in-Chief of The Polar Journal, Professor Anne-Marie Brady. With a kind and seemingly unflappable calm, she has, more than once, helped a very nervous guest editor through a rough patch in the process.

Above all, I would like to express my gratitude to Ms Karen Petersen, a very promising doctoral candidate at Lincoln University and, more importantly (at least to me), my reliable assistant in the editing process. Her interpersonal skills, organisational acumen and near-miraculous ability to keep a busy academic on track have been invaluable. This issue is, in large part, due to her efforts. Thank you, Karen.

Notes

¹ OECD, Ministerial Meeting on Science: Fundamental Research and the Policies of Governments, 2nd ed. (Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1966).

² The journals surveyed for this article included American International Journal of Social Science, Asian Social Science, Contemporary Social Science, European Journal of social Sciences/Revue Européene des Sciences Sociales, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, International Social Science Journal, Journal of Social Sciences, Open Journal of Social Sciences, Social Sciences, The Social Science Journal, The Social Sciences.

³ see, e.g. J.D. Brewer, The Public Value of the Social Sciences: An Interpretive Essay (London: Bloomsbury, 2013).

⁴ Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Oxford: Elsevier Science, 2001).

⁵ International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA), “Objectives,” http://www.iassa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=16 (accessed February 20, 2015).

⁶ Peter Suedfeld, “Groups in Isolation and Confinement: Environments and Experiences,” in From Antarctic to Outer Space: Life in Isolation and Confinement, edited by A.A. Harrison, Y.A. Clearwater, and C.P. McKay (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1991), 135–146.