The European social sciences tend to absorb criticism that has been passed on the European approach and re-label it as a part of what the critique opposes; criticism of European social sciences by subaltern social sciences, their talking back, has become a frequent line of reflection in European social sciences. The re-labelling of the critique of the European approach to social sciences towards a critique from Southern social sciences of Western social sciences has somehow turned Southern as well as Western social sciences into competing contributors to the same globalising social sciences. Both are no longer arguing about the European approach to social sciences but about which social thought from which part of the globe prevails. If the critique becomes a part of what it opposes, one might conclude that the European social sciences are very adaptable and capable of learning. One might, however, also raise the question whether there is anything wrong with the criticism of the European social sciences; or, for that matter, whether there is anything wrong with the European social sciences themselves. The contributions in this book discuss these questions from different angles: They revisit the mainstream critique of the European social sciences, and they suggest new arguments criticising social science theories that may be found as often in the Western as in the Southern discourse.

This innovative book provides new perspectives on the globalization of knowledge and the notion of hegemonic sciences. Tying together contributions of authors from all across the world, it challenges existing theories of hegemonic sciences and sheds new light on how they have been and are being constructed. Examining more closely the notions of 'human rights' and 'individualization', this much-needed volume offers new and alternative ideas on how to transform the universalization of the Western model of science and can serve as an eye-opener for all those interested in non-hegemonic scientific discourse. This book is published within the Series 'Beyond the Social Sciences'.

The fields of cross-cultural and cultural psychology each acknowledge the role "culture" plays for the establishment of a meaningful practice. Yet, there are notable differences between experimental, cross-cultural, and interpretive cultural psychologies. Contributions to this book discuss recent theoretical and methodological approaches from both fields, as a means to explore their combined potential for the advancement of the concept of culture, the theoretical conceptualization and methodical completion of comparative cultural studies, and the scientific understanding of cultural difference.
Jrgen Straub, Ph.D., is professor of intercultural communication in the faculty of philosophy, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany. Carlos Koelbl, Ph.D., teaches at the Institute of Psychology and Sociology, Department of Education, University of Hanover, Germany. Doris Weidemann, Diplomat, Psychology, teaches intercultural communication at Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany. Barbara Zielke, Ph.D., teaches at the Institute of Psychology, University of Erlangen, Germany.

"Internationaliation of the Social Sciences" rests on the setup of international scientific infrastructures, networks and research agendas, yet it has also stimulated discussions on academic dependency and the need for the indigeniation of theories and methods. This book traces phenomena that accompany the internationaliation of social sciences in different parts of the world. Contributions from East Asia, India, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, South Africa and Latin America offer manifold perspectives on the pathways and desiderata of internationaliation and make this volume an important basis for future debates.

Michael Kuhn is the director of KnowWhy Global Research.

Doris Weidemann is a cultural psychologist and professor at the University of Applied Sciences of Zwickau, Germany.