How the ‘Social Sciences’ Killed Our Universities

The collapse of communism in the early 1990s left large numbers of social scientists studying Cold War topics without purpose or relevance to policymakers. With communism and class conflict passé and no serious challenge to American power, many practitioners turned to the topics of identity politics and racial grievance as a way to reestablish their public importance. This, more than anything else, says social scientist Liah Greenfeld, is responsible for the fall of our research universities, now the main catalyst for postmodern ideologies attacking the West and undermining its values.