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Toward a theory of revolution The legacy of James C. Davies in historical perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

John M. Orbell
Affiliation:
Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences, Straub Hall, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403. [email protected]
Roshani Cari Shay
Affiliation:
Hawaii Wellness Institute, 3670 Kalihi Street, Honolulu, HI 96819. [email protected]
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Extract

“Founders” of new scholarly ideas, perspectives, or paradigms are people who advocate for such ideas before wider scholarly audiences accept them or even know they exist. Such scholars have an uphill battle. They must persuade journal and book editors to publish their work. Those gatekeepers depend on reviewers with established reputations in conventional terms, and these reviewers generally oppose anything that threatens their comfortable intellectual lives. If the idea is as stunningly simple as Darwin's natural selection theory, an innovator might have a somewhat easier time; Thomas Huxley reportedly remarked upon reading On the Origin of Species, “How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that.” But with conceptually and methodologically broad ideas, such as the application of biologically based psychological thinking to a traditional set of disciplinary problems, it can be tough to even get a foot in the door.

Type
Founders' Forum
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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