What Is the Social Responsibility of Social Scientists to Influence National Security Affairs?

• Author: Yagil Levy
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X20917183
• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Date: 01 January 2023
• Subject Matter: Symposium: National Security and Social Science

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X20917183

Armed Forces & Society

2023, Vol. 49(1) 7 –19

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0095327X20917183

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Symposium: National Security and Social Science

1134644AFSXXX10.1177/0095327X20917183Armed Forces & SocietyLevy

research-article2020

What Is the Social

Responsibility of Social

Scientists to Influence

National Security

Affairs?

Yagil Levy

1

Abstract

Mainstream scholars of IR favor policy-relevant research, that is the agenda to

influence government policymakers by offering policy recommendations. In this

article, I offer a different perspective by presenting alternative arguments about

social scientists’ responsibility to influence. By drawing on themes of public sociology

and critical sociology, security studies and public policy, I argue that the core of this

responsibility is to seek to influence policy via engagement with the public rather

than with policymakers.

Keywords

public policy, democracy, deliberation, critical sociology, public sociology

In his insightful book, Cult of the Irrelevant, Michael Desch (2019) assumes that

scholars (he refers to the United States) should aspire to influence government policy

makers by offering policy recommendations. He assumes rather than argues, and

1

Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication, The Open University of Israel, Raanana,

Israel

Corresponding Author:

Yagil Levy, Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication, The Open University of Israel,

P.O. Box 808, Raanana 43107, Israel.

Emails: yagille@openu.ac.il; yagil.levy@gmail.com