On the Importance of Reflection on Disciplinary Norms: A Response to Jan Kofroň and Ilona Kruntorádová
Abstract
In this paper I critically engage with a recent article by Jan Kofroň and Ilona
Kruntorádová dealing with methodology courses at Czech departments of
political science. First, I show how their methodological approach leads the
authors to put too much emphasis on the lack of familiarity with
quantitative methods as the biggest shortcoming of political science in the
Czech Republic. Second, I focus on the disciplinary assumptions of the
discussed article. I demonstrate that the paper is underpinned by a specific
understanding of social sciences which deems certain approaches as less
scientific. I then relate these notions to the authors’ understanding of the
practical relevance of social sciences. In the conclusion, I discuss how these
critical points can be utilized in potential future projects that would
investigate the current state of political science in the Czech Republic.
Keywords
political science, methodology, ontology, epistemology, disciplinary politics
Author Biography
Jakub Záhora
Jakub Záhora, born in 1988, he is a doctoral candidate at the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague. He holds degrees in Security Studies from the same department and in Near
and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS), the University of London. He further conducted several study and
research stays in Israel. In his doctoral thesis, he looks into the politics of
materiality and infrastructure at Israeli settlements in the West Bank. More
generally, his research interests cover critical security studies with emphasis
on poststructuralist approaches, ethnographic methods in political science
and Israeli politics and society.