301271 Politics of Research Methods (S) (WiSe 2025/2026)

In social sciences, the fundamentals of research methods advance through constant contestation. The decolonial turn and questioning of Western knowledge production, its Eurocentrism, and universalization have raised the bar of methodological critique even further. Additionally, the fields of interdisciplinary studies require new methodological paths due to inherent power asymmetries between the researcher and the research subjects. This seminar engages with ongoing debates on the politics of research methods, especially in qualitative approaches. The aim is to discuss current novel outlines of decolonized research and hybrid methods considering fieldwork, expert interviews, or narrative approaches. The focus also lies on studies from the Global South with current examples from activist sociology, where the researcher becomes part of the movement under scrutiny.

This course will be taught in English. English translations will be provided for Spanish or German texts.

Bibliography

Background readings:

• Steinmetz, G. (Ed.). (2005). The politics of method in the human sciences: positivism and its epistemological others. Duke University Press.
• Berger, P. L. y Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality; a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Doubleday.
• Corona Berkin, S. y Zapata, C. (2023). Critical interculturality and horizontal methodologies in Latin America. Routledge.
• Mora, M. (2017). Kuxlejal politics: Indigenous autonomy, race, and decolonizing research in Zapatista communities (First edition). University of Texas Press.