Volume 52 / Number 4 / December 1998 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019 The situation is very different for institutions. The Social Science Research Their lives in a way are limitless, thus they can be Council: 75 Years Young loud and clear where their age is concerned. The older, the better, since longer tradition makes for by Paul B. Baltes* prestige, health and influence. They stand on the shoulders of many and the many reach across genera- The last time the Council celebrated an anniversary tions. Regarding institutions, there is the potential of was 25 years ago, on the occasion of its 50th birth- eternity. In this sense, at age 75 the Council is young. day. Birthdays of institutions are different from birth- That institutions can have a much longer life than days of people, and the difference carries important individuals is one of the reasons why in the end, the meaning. Beyond age 30 or so, we as individuals social and cultural is so powerful, perhaps more so want to be younger, and this desire for youth increases than the individual. Aside from the genome, institu- with age. Besides, the lifetime of individuals has defi- tions are the primary carriers of the fabric of the nite limits! When these limits are reached, living human condition and the dynamics of continuity and longer becomes an exception to the rule. change. For a psychologist such as myself to reach A vignette from history illustrates the point. Close such insight into the significance of the social-cul- to 250 years ago, Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757) tural-institutional is perhaps a rarity. That I am able was the permanent secretary (secrétaire perpetuelle) to do so is due foremost to my experience in the of the French Academy. One day Fontenelle, who Council and its spirit of interdisciplinarity. My asso- lived to the ripe age of 99, was sitting in the Academy together with a much younger colleague, a mere 89 years old. This friend turned to Fontenelle and asked worriedly, “Why do you think we are getting so old? ■ CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE ■ Could it be that the Almighty has simply forgotten us, The Social Science Research Spaces, Khoo Khay Jin 82 that God does not know that we are still around?” Council: 75 Years Young, The Possibilities of “Asian” Fontenelle, known for his cynical humor and practical Paul B. Baltes 69 Intellectuals, Nirmala The Social Science Research PuruShotam 84 wisdom, whispered, “Shhh, shhh, dear colleague, not Council: Plus Ça Change, Tracking the Human Genome so loud!” Kenton W. Worcester 73 Project, Rayna Rapp, Public Intellectuals: A View Deborah Heath, Karen from Southeast Asia 79 Sue Taussig 88 Located Knowledge, Current Activities at the Council 92 * Paul B. Baltes, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Craig J. Reynolds 79 Recent Council Publication 99 Development in Berlin, chairs the SSRC board of directors. This piece is Questions of Minorities, Awards Offered in 1997 100 adapted from a speech delivered at a symposium in honor of the SSRC’s Kasian Tejapira 81 Grants Received by the Council 75th anniversary on June 11, 1998. Civil Society and Public in 1997–98 111 69 ciation with the Council has helped me to think ematics in the social sciences, methods of survey beyond the single-person paradigm of mainstream research, methods of qualitative and hermeneutic behavioral science. analysis, social indicators and the role of ethics in The ritual of this anniversary requires me say a the planning and conduct of research. few words about the raison d'être of the Council. At its 75th birthday, I urge the Council to continue Four activities shape the profile of the Council as I its efforts to be in the center of social-science meth- see and have experienced it. odology and theory construction. Currently, for in- stance, the Council is grappling with the challenge Pure, Applied and Action Research presented by modern technologies of genetics and neuroscience. Has the time come to inform the social First, the founders of the Council placed its sciences better about how a close collaboration be- squarely at the intersection of science, society and tween social scientists and neuroscientists might open social reform. Operationally, this can be interpreted new doors towards understanding such issues as the in various ways. One interpretation is that the life course, aging, gender, social class or education? Council since its inception has been and remains Similarly, on the topic of genetics and gene technol- committed to joining the pure with the applied or ogy, the social sciences occasionally appear to take a action-oriented in social science work. Associated hands-off position. One reason, from an international with this emphasis is an important function of point of view, is that American discussions surround- encouraging communication between the social sci- ing the genome-behavior-society interface are unfor- ences and the private and public sectors. In this spirit, tunately completely locked into issues of race. the Council has more than once been a meeting place But the methodological and theoretical challenge of diverse minds and interest groups who from their is not limited to the intertwining of the life sciences respective vantage points aspire to make the world a with the social sciences. It also involves seemingly better place. oppositional methodological and theoretical ap- Consequently, the Council is subject to pulls and proaches within the social sciences. Think only of pushes in alternative directions by the trends of fash- the negative dynamics surrounding current discus- ion in the academic world and by the ever-changing sions of hermeneutics and deconstruction. Rather political issues of the day, as well as those of other than exploiting the opportunities for humanists and institutions that are in the business of social analysis empiricists to shed their respective lights on institu- and social reform. It is not easy to respect these tions and behavior, scholars have allowed deep often incompatible demands and at the same time to canyons to open between them. Departments are pursue a coherent program aimed at the advancement breaking up because the faculty was not able to talk of the social sciences and the public good. We ask productively across methodologies. our institutional peers, supporters and stakeholders to At such junctures, the Council has a special role. continue to help us in this regard, and to ensure that Its longstanding tradition qualifies it to transcend dis- the conditions of financial support do not separate us ciplinary biases and isolation. For instance, many from the core of the social sciences as its fields social scientists think that the modern age of biology develop. Only by continuing to attract the best of produces another hegemony, that of biological deter- academia to its work can the Council achieve its minism. For the most part, however, biologists them- objective; that is, to explore how social science-based selves do not believe that at all. On the contrary, knowledge can be brought to bear on matters of during the last decades biologists and neuroscientists public concern. have opened their minds more than ever to the pow- erful role of environmental, behavioral and social fac- Methodological and theoretical innovations tors in gene expression. They are interactionists to Throughout its history, the Council has made a begin with. Yet many social scientists believe the second topic part of its signature profile: the frontiers opposite, largely because they are underinformed and of methodological advances and social-science theory. reluctant to engage themselves. Indeed, the Council's record on that score is impres- Thus, the more we learn about the human genome, sive, covering such diverse topics as the role of math- the more we need to have a good social science in 70\ITEMS VOLUME 52, NUMBER 4 place to promote the kind of transdisciplinary collab- efforts in both directions–the link to the humanities oration that spells progress. The discourse between and the link to the behavioral sciences. the biological and the social-cultural is a dialectic, Note also that this effort applies to all levels of where the social sciences are challenged more than training and expertise, graduate to postgraduate, and ever. Biologists are naive when it comes to the mea- to the retraining and nurturing of the elders in the surement of the social and cultural. They need our academic community. A recently initiated Council expertise in measuring behavior, in identifying meth- program on the structure and function of higher edu- ods that permit quantification of the micro- and cation is one example. Another is the initiative to macroenvironments in which we humans live. These strengthen the social-science perspective in doctoral are the kind of opportunities that the Council seeks training of economists. out to fulfill its responsibility as one of the premier institutions in the making of the theory and method- Internationality ology of the social sciences. The fourth cornerstone of the Council's architec- ture is internationality. As a community, American Interdisciplinarity scientists are underinformed about work outside the The third cornerstone, and historically perhaps the United States, including Europe. Since its beginning, foundational one, in the profile of the SSRC is inter- the SSRC has contributed to overcoming this limita- disciplinarity. Keep in mind that the charter of the tion, and has brought to the United States the best Council was framed by collaboration among seven social science that other countries have to offer. At scientific organizations. When creating the Council, the same time, the Council has played a major role in these organizations recognized that the institutional encouraging social science in other parts of the structure of science and scholarship favors discipli- world.