Crippling Epistemologies and Governance Failures: A Plea for Experimentalism

Introduction

Part I may appear to some to be tedious reflective whining about the defective philosophy of the social sciences and their ambient culture, an overlong detour on the way to the sort of practical policy research announced above. This is not the case. The critique of crippling epistemologies constitutes a necessary first step in the development of good governance . Without some critique of the existing mindset, one will not be able to identify the epistemological blockages and their sources, or to initiate the difficult process of development of an alternative arsenal to the “methodist ” model of policy research in good currency, and to the development of better governance. Without such a discussion, neither the critical evaluation of the tools in use nor the case studies would be as illuminating as they might be. Neither is this critique the result of whims and “ad-hocery” only. Failures of governance are most often the direct result of crippling epistemologies. But there is more. If one is to develop an alternative to the traditional model of policy research, one has to establish the identity papers and credentials of the new approach it suggests, the mindset it is built on, and the different components and stages of its inquiry process. Much of this can be done only by ensuring that it is Introduction 14 CRIPPLING EPISTEMOLOGIES AND GOVERNANCE FAILURES shown to be standing in sharp contrast with the features of current models. The chapters in Part I provide the minimal amount of material necessary to make sense of the traditional approach, and to understand its characteristics and its flaws. At the core of this critical work is the central notion of “inquiry” in John Dewey’s (1927) sense. Charles Lindblom (1990: 3) defines inquiry as: “the production of social knowledge as a vast social process in which even relatively uninformed, ordinary people play significant parts along with political and opinion leaders.” This process of probing is much larger and more heterogeneous than the process of problem-solving: it “emphasizes persistence and depth of investigation, uncertainty of result, and possible surprise”; it connotes “a continuing varied, diffuse, and interactive process.” Lindblom’s (1990) choice of this prudent approach to social problems stems from his conviction that one cannot expect anything meaningful from “scientific problemsolving ” or “ideology”. Neither the simplistic technical rationality of means and ends, nor the anamorphosis of the present situation via a single Great Idea, can generate much usable knowledge. In both cases, nothing can be expected except a caricature of the situation based on a systematic effort to distort the situation in order to make it fit the dominant perspective. Probing is clearly not the preserve of professionals. Lay persons probe as much as professionals do, and both groups depend on each other. In fact, some of the worst outcomes might be ascribed to a lack of coordination between the two sorts of probing. Chapter 1 examines the crisis of confidence that has plagued the human sciences as the result of the gradual displacement of content by “methodism” and the professionalization of the academy, without the parallel growth of a sense of professionalism, that has led the human sciences to desert their founding questions, and to focus on generating unhelpful maps. It is argued that the only PART I: CRIPPLING EPISTEMOLOGIES 15 way out is to redirect the human sciences toward their original questions. Chapter 2 indicts the post-secondary education system not only as a significant victim, but also as a continuing source of this perversion, this professionalization without professionalism, and suggests a refoundation of the post-secondary education system in a manner that would preserve the core importance of savoir-faire and savoir- être within a transformed educational paradigm that would give access to a broader varieties of knowledges, and might provide some of the winning conditions for the renaissance of a less crippling and more inclusive process of acquisition of knowledge. Chapter 3 deals with a complementary source of crippling epistemologies: the surrounding national and corporate cultures. Culture is used as a focus for examining many of the hidden forces that shape our acquisition of knowledge, and our decisions outside the realm of education and research. It is suggested that various neuroses act at the cognitive and ethical levels to shape learning, and thereby to influence the capacities to experiment and innovate. These diverse sets of constraints and sources of crippling epistemologies, intellectual, institutional, educational and cultural...