Hendrik Wagenaar

Interpretivism has an intuitive appeal to many social researchers, but they often feel ill-equipped to do it. Other social researchers tend to believe that interpretivism is a specialized niche with little relevance to their research practice. What has been lost is the awareness that interpretation is an explanatory logic and form of inquiry that is at the root of all social science research, including quantitative research. In this volume, the authors guide social researchers and instructors in better understanding and improving the experience of doing interpretive research. They explore the centrality of experience in learning and teaching interpretive research, paying special attention to the role of emotions in the learning process, and the way that negative emotions, such as doubt and anxiety, can impart learning. The authors provide a novel approach to methods teaching by offering a set of heuristics, open-ended strategies of inquiry and discovery for improving the practice of social research. Uniquely, they demonstrate how emotions can be leveraged in the learning process to uncover surprising new insights about social reality and unlock researchers' imagination. They reveal how social researchers, engaged or interested in interpretivism in learning, can turn their research into an enjoyable, productive, and imaginative experience.

Interpretivism has an intuitive appeal to many social researchers, but they often feel ill-equipped to do it. Other social researchers tend to believe that interpretivism is a specialized niche with little relevance to their research practice. What has been lost is the awareness that interpretation is an explanatory logic and form of inquiry that is at the root of all social science research, including quantitative research. In this volume, the authors guide social researchers and instructors in better understanding and improving the experience of doing interpretive research. They explore the centrality of experience in learning and teaching interpretive research, paying special attention to the role of emotions in the learning process, and the way that negative emotions, such as doubt and anxiety, can impart learning. The authors provide a novel approach to methods teaching by offering a set of heuristics, open-ended strategies of inquiry and discovery for improving the practice of social research. Uniquely, they demonstrate how emotions can be leveraged in the learning process to uncover surprising new insights about social reality and unlock researchers' imagination. They reveal how social researchers, engaged or interested in interpretivism in learning, can turn their research into an enjoyable, productive, and imaginative experience.

COVID-19 has exposed defects in our current political–economic order: extreme wealth inequality, an ideology-driven government, a greedy corporate sector, a precarious labour force and a looming climate catastrophe. This accessible book offers a unique blend of moral imagination and social–political analysis to overcome these defects. It focuses on two characteristics of contemporary societies – hegemony and complexity – that have inhibited our ability to imagine, and take seriously, better practices and institutions. Considering housing, work, governance, finance, climate change and more, this book presents feasible and pragmatic solutions which are informed by a comprehensive vision of a flourishing, sustainable and richly democratic society.

COVID-19 has exposed defects in our current political–economic order: extreme wealth inequality, an ideology-driven government, a greedy corporate sector, a precarious labour force and a looming climate catastrophe. This accessible book offers a unique blend of moral imagination and social–political analysis to overcome these defects. It focuses on two characteristics of contemporary societies – hegemony and complexity – that have inhibited our ability to imagine, and take seriously, better practices and institutions. Considering housing, work, governance, finance, climate change and more, this book presents feasible and pragmatic solutions which are informed by a comprehensive vision of a flourishing, sustainable and richly democratic society.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. While the debate on regulating prostitution usually focuses on national policy, it is local policy measures that have the most impact on the ground. This book is the first to offer a detailed analysis of the design and implementation of prostitution policy at the local level and carefully situates local policy practices in national policy making and transnational trends in labour migration and exploitation. Based on detailed comparative research in Austria and the Netherlands, and bringing in experiences in countries such as New Zealand and Sweden, it analyses the policy instruments employed by local administrators to control prostitution and sex workers. Bridging the gap between theory and policy, emphasizing the multilevel nature of prostitution policy, while also highlighting more effective policies on prostitution, migration and labour exploitation, this unique book fills a gap in the literature on this contentious and important social issue.

This accessible book gives academics, graduate students, and researchers a comprehensive overview of the vast, varied, and often confusing landscape of interpretive policy analysis. It is both theoretically informed and clear and jargon-free as it discusses the specific strengths and weaknesses of different interpretive approaches--all with a practical orientation towards doing policy analysis

This accessible book gives academics, graduate students, and researchers a comprehensive overview of the vast, varied, and often confusing landscape of interpretive policy analysis. It is both theoretically informed and clear and jargon-free as it discusses the specific strengths and weaknesses of different interpretive approaches--all with a practical orientation towards doing policy analysis