Prestigious publications and public relevance: Vietnam war and black protest in the ASR and APSR

Crime, Law and Social Change 17: 107-121, 1992. (~) 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Prestigious publications and public relevance: Vietnam war and black protest in the ASR and APSR

JAMES PETRAS l and CHRISTIAN DAVENPORT 2. 1Department of Sociology, SUNY- Binghamton, New York, NY13901, U.S.A. 2Department of Political Science, University of Houston, Texas, TX 77204-3474, U.S.A. (* requests for offprints)

Abstract. This study examines the manner and the extent to which the social sciences are prepared to address large scale, long term historical change. Particularly, the American Political Science Review and the American Sociological Review are subjected to a content analysis with regards to their analyses of the Vietnamese war and the Black uprisings of the 1960s. The results identify the fact that the most preeminent social science journals failed to analyze the conflicts; either prior to, during or after their emergence. This suggests, at a general level, that critical reflection of the dominant theoretical paradigms of social science did not take place. Moreover, it is suggested, on a more specific level, that the fundamental problem was the bankruptcy of the 1950s paradigm for the 1960s and the incapacity of the more influential journals to identify, address and overcome this intellectual limitation.

Introduction

This study investigates the relationship between social science research published in leading journals and large scale, socio-political conflicts. In particular, we focus on two conflicts that involved major historical events-conflicts that provoked major rethinking of U.S. domestic and international political and social commitments. One of our cases is the U.S.-Vietnam war that spans almost two decades of involvement: generating public debate, incurring half a million casualties and several hundred billion dollars- not to speak of the long term psychological, economic, and political effects that continue into the present. The second case is the black uprisings of the 1960s, spanning the length and breadth of the continent and occurring for the greater part of the decade.

The basic question that we address is whether the social sciences, particularly through the most influential journals in political science and sociology, were prepared theoretically and conceptually to anticipate these conflicts, analyze them while they occurred, or retrospectively analyze them after the fact. One might argue that this is not the job of the social sciences; they should not be concerned with "public policy issues" but rather provide a "broader" more philosophical or narrower problem oriented focus, derived from its own

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intellectual concerns. We take exception to this particular view of the social sciences.

Our objectives in raising these issues are several fold. First of all large scale, long term historical change in the classical tradition was always a vital concern in the social sciences: from Aristotle's discussion of revolutions to Weber's preoccupation with large scale transitions of social systems. Secondly, in contemporary research international relations and conflict in race relations have a respectable niche in most recognized Universities, The relation between public policy and academic research has been of long standing duration, albeit usually of a somewhat questionable status. Thus, many who object to raising the issue of "relevance" in the scholarly world maintain double stan- dards: formulating research within the parameters of contemporary policy- makers is appropriate, while research that focuses on challenges to the basic foundation of the policy-making process is dismissed as "journalism" or merely ideologically charged.

If we leave aside the political and social anomalies established within these positions it stands to reason that citizen-scholars have a responsibility to bring to bear their analytical tools and training to major conflicts and changes in the contemporary world. This is not to argue that this is the only legitimate vocation for a social scientist; it does argue however that for scholars to systematically neglect major issues is as C.W. Mills once put it to "abdicate their moral responsibilities".

The question addressed by this study is one that has recurred several times, with different emphases and varying underlying motivations. It is crucial to justifying and defining what it is that we do as social scientists. Simply stated: how useful is social science in anticipating major domestic and international conflicts and how useful is it to understanding the conflicts when they occur?

Methodological discussion

Our study of leading social science journals investigates two major episodes of conflict and historical change experienced by the United States and examines the degree to which the journals observed provided an understanding or analysis of these processes. In particular, we are concerned with the frequency, timing and depth of the discussions undertaken in two leading journals: the American Political Science Review (APSR) and the American Soci- ological Review (ASR) - the most prestigious and influential journals of the respective disciplines. This analysis would provide us with a sense of the importance which the journals attribute to basic changes as well as the capa- bility of the journals to analyze the events as they unfold.

The conflictual events selected were the U.S.-Vietnamese war and the black

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uprisings of the 1960s. For the U.S.-Vietnamese war, we chose the time frame from 1951 to 1979; the opening and closing of substantive U.S. commitments to the war. Under the general category of Vietnam, the following sub-directories were consulted: French Indo-China, Army, Politics and Government, Defens- es, US-Foreign Relations, US-military assistance, Americans in Vietnam, US-Armed Forces, and the Vietnamese war.

With regards to the black uprisings, the time frame covered the 1952 to 1979 period. This time frame was chosen for two reasons. First, we thought it necessary to allow a decade prior to the uprisings, in order to maximize the possibility of recognition by social scientists of the underlying configuration of power and conflict. Secondly, we allowed almost a decade after the uprisings to facilitate any pronounced "lags" that may have occurred among social scientists in coming to terms with the momentous events of the previous decade. The categories utilized to examine this conflict were the following: Riots, Race riots, Race problems, Negroes in the US, as well as various American cities.

Our analysis moves on two levels. At the most general aggregate analyses, we discuss the overall coverage by the social science journals spanning the entire period. At a more specific level, we periodicize each conflict in order to analyze different moments in which the journals might take cognizance of large scale conflicts. We distinguish these periods as follows: the time prior to the major conflict, the period of conflict itself and, finally, the subsequent time period. In the case of the U.S.-Vietnam war these translate into the following periodicization: anticipatory period, 1951-1963; large scale war, 1964-1974; and, post-war, 1975-1979. In the case of the black uprisings, the time periods are broken down into: anticipatory period, 1952-1963; black-white confronta- tion, 1964-1970; and, the aftermath, 1971-1979.

To derive the total number of articles reported in each of these time periods a two step process was utilized. First, three APSR and ASR journals, from each of the time periods identified, were randomly selected. Here, the number of articles were counted and an average obtained by dividing by three. The second component involved taking the average number of articles appearing within these journals and multiplying them by the total number of journals published within the particular time frame of interest. The resulting number, therefore, represents an estimate of the actual number that occurred within the APSR and ASR for each period of investigation: i.e., anticipatory period, conflict and aftermath. This provides us with a general idea about the overall magnitude of articles that exist within the respective disciplines at different points in time.

The second part of our analysis examines the attributes of the conflicts themselves (patterns of escalation, the number of deaths, the extent of property damage) - particularly as they affected the oppressed groups. We sought to

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determine the degree to which the social science journals were open to the severity of the social consequences of conflict, as well as their occurrence. As a result, for Vietnam the pertinent journals will be analyzed to determine the coverage of the impact of U.S. intervention on Vietnamese lives and property as well as U.S. "costs". In addition, the journal articles coverage of the black uprisings will be analyzed to determine the scope and depth of their coverage of frequency, location, and the severity of conflictual activity.

We proceed by first identifying the rates at which the journals discussed the conflicts (i.e., the number of journal articles on the subject divided by the estimated number of journal articles over the time period under consid- eration). Additionally, we identify what was discussed in the journal articles that did appear on the subject. This component is measured by a five point scale.

The scale represents the degree to which the conflict is placed within a larger context. Specifically, if the conflict itself is discussed; i.e., where it occurred, how many people were involved, casualties, etc., the score provided is one. The point score is increased thereafter in the degree to which the conflict is placed in a more comprehensive framework of large scale, long term conflict: i.e., theories of interstate conflict and the implications of this behavior for inter- and intra-state relations within the Vietnamese case and theories of interest group conflict and domestic political processes for the Black uprisings.

The primary emphasis of this scaling procedure is placed on addressing the conflict in terms of what larger structural factors underlie its manifestation. This perspective leads to such questions as: what aspect of the conflict did the articles find most salient? What causal factors do the articles attribute to the conflict? What aftereffects do the articles see as important? What are the implications of the conflicts? The dimension being addressed is represented diagrammatically below.

Scale for analyzing depth of analysis

1 2 3 4 5 Attributes of Analysis of individual contextual conflicts factors

Cumulatively, these two components reveal how often the journals discussed the conflicts identified as well as the manner in which the examination was conducted. We shall first consider the U.S.-Vietnamese war.

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The U.S.-Vietnamese conflict

From 1951 to 1979 there were an estimated 1160 articles in the American Political Science Review (APSR) and 1575 in the American Sociological Review (ASR). During this same time period six articles on the subject of Vietnam appeared in the APSR and none in the ASR. As a consequence, the rate at which articles appeared was 0.0038 for the APSR and 0 for the ASR. We can conclude, therefore, that in terms of sheer numbers, the coverage of this world historical conflict received little attention in the leading professional journals (Table 1).

Clearly the leading sociological journal was incapable of coming to terms either before, during or after the most important example of large scale social conflict since World War two. A notable omission over a quarter of a century cannot be attributed to a "chance occurrence", but probably reflects a basic "structural" weakness in the profession.

In the case of the APSR, the overall picture is not much better: four- thousand of a percent of coverage for the paramount political event in a discipline that purports to be "political" is not an invitation to becoming a "science". Several possible explanations might be proffered in defense of this omission however; it might be argued that early on in the conflict the journal provided an in-depth analysis that pre-empted any further discussion. Un- fortunately, the evidence fails to sustain that particular argument as no articles among the 400 published between 1954-1963 discussed Vietnam. Hence, the leading journal failed to anticipate or provide any analysis of the impending conflict or even recognize that an imperial-nationalist conflict existed.

Another argument might be made that during the war, 1964-1974, the journal did come to terms with the historical realities in Vietnam and compen- sated for past omissions through critical reflection. The evidence is far from convincing even here. Coverage increased only marginally during this decade; four articles appeared at a rate of nine hundreds of a percent. Moreover, none of the articles examined the nature of the war, the imperial context, the social bases of the national resistance or the costs of the conflict. The articles largely focused on public opinion and elections in the U.S.

The articles that did appear during this time frame were entitled as follows: "Public Opinion and the War in Vietnam" (APSR vol. 61-1967), "Correlates of Public Sentiments about War: Local Referendum on the Vietnam Issue" (APSR vol. 65-1970), "Trends in Popular Support for the Wars in Korea and Vietnam" (APSR vol. 65-1971), and "Policy Voting and the Electoral Process; the Vietnam War Issue" (APSR vol. 66-1972).

The period following the war (1975-1979) had the highest rate of coverage, 0.01. For this four year period two articles appeared. These were entitled:

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"Pentagon Papers: a Critical Evaluation" (APSR vol. 69-1975) and "What Use are 3 Versions of the Pentagon Papers" (APSR vol. 69-1975).

It may be that the coverage was determined by various attributes of the war. Perhaps the occurrence was not enough but rather the magnitude of the social consequences felt by the United States was needed to prompt coverage?

The data supports this contention only marginally. A year after the military personnel in Vietnam reached its highest amount, 536,100 in 1968, APSR published three articles. This also coincides with the increasing numbers of military personnel killed in action, which increased six fold from 1966 to 1969. Each article occurred in consecutive years: 1970, 1971 and 1972. Although the coverage was perhaps responsive to these increases, the particular articles identified did not confront this fact directly. It may have been addressed indirectly, however, through the domestic impact of this massive transporta- tion and commitment of U.S. manpower and financial resources onto the American public and government.

From the results obtained from this survey, two points can be made: 1) the articles identified were framed in the conventional conceptual terms of the previous decades (public opinion and electoral process) and, therefore, had no direct bearing on the making of the war or the prolonged escalation; and, 2) when outsiders did bring a mass of material from inside the establishment (the Pentagon Papers), which challenged many of the ideological premises about the nature of U.S. foreign policy, the APSR saw fit to criticize the presentation rather than critically re-think their political assumptions. This lack of critical reflection and rigid adherence to doctrine certainly played no small role in blocking any post mortem "new thinking".

In analyzing the depth of analysis, the average score obtained was one, arguably a score of zero would be more appropriate. This score reflected the fact that discussion focuses on the impact of the conflict upon the citizenry and political process of the United States. There is no discussion as to why the conflict occurred, i.e., what factors led to its manifestation. Nor is there any

Table 1. Distribution of journal articles frequency and depth of coverage 1954-1979.

Total no. On Vietnam Depth Rate

1954-1963 Making of the client regime 400 0 0 0

1964-1974 Imperial War 440 4 1 0.009

1975-1979 Cessation of conflict 200 2 1 0.01

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discussion about the implications of this conflict in regards to international relations or questions of political economy. Quite the contrary, the focus is the opinion of the American population and how the conflict has been reported to the American government. This not only ignores causal factors of the conflict but it also fails to consider the substantial loss of life on both sides, the social impact of those involved in fighting, or even the economic dislocation resulting from the war itself.

Black uprisings

From 1952 to 1979 there were an estimated 1120 articles in the American Political Science Review and 1515 in the American Sociological Review. During this time period, concerning the issue of black uprisings, no articles appeared in the APSR and 12 appeared in the ASR. For this time period, the rate at which articles appeared was 0 for the APSR and 0.0079 for the ASR. Once again, we can conclude that the coverage was minimal.

While almost all of the major metropolitan centers of the U.S. were sites of major violent racial confrontations, including one major conflagration a few blocks from the offices of the American Political Science Association in Washington, no articles ever appeared in the APSR before, during or even within the subsequent decade. The imperviousness of the journal to conflict, racial animosity and state repression-documented in presidential commissions and stacks of public testimony cannot be attributed to a lack of data, or a lack of public policy concern. Rather, this monumental absence can only be understood in terms of the incompatibility of the events occurring and the analytical paradigms that defined the concerns, values and conceptions regarding Amer- ican politics. The choice was between "dumping" the pluralist-incrementalist paradigm or ignoring systematic conflict that questioned the foundation of the polity. As the data reveals, the choice of the discipline is quite obvious.

The survey reveals marginally greater coverage of the ASR, particularly if we compare the sub-periods under the analyses rather than the aggregate figures over the whole period. While there were no articles published analyzing the structural and behavioral factors leading up to the uprisings, three articles (out of 336) purported to analyze the riots in the decade of conflict, while coverage peaked (9 out of 459) in the decade that followed (Table 2).

During the eleven years preceding the black uprisings no articles were published concerning the linkage between potential collective protest and the growing racial gaps in the U.S., the deteriorating conditions of the inner city, the repressive behavior of the state (police violence) or any of the larger structural shifts in investment behavior from factories to services that might have increased frustrations among young black workers.

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Under the massive pressure of events a small opening on the pages of the ASR occurred during the peak years of the black uprising (1964-1970). Within this period of conflict three articles appear. These are entitled: "Participants and Underlying Conditions of Race Riots" (ASR vol. 30-1965), "Conditions Underlying Race Riots as Portrayed by Multidimensional Scalogram Analy- sis" (ASR vol. 33-1968), and "Causes of Racial Disturbances: a Comparison of Alternative Explanations" (ASR vol. 35-1970).

While the ASR demonstrated a greater willingness than the APSR to open its pages to discussion and analysis of large scale processes of change, the total space allocated to these momentous challenges to race-based American society and political system still amounted to less than one percent of the articles published.

The majority of the discussion about the uprisings occur after they have ended (1971-1979). There are nine articles printed within the journal during this time period. They are titled as follows: Reply and Rejoinder to "Causes of Racial Disturbances: a Comparison of Alternative Explanations" (ASR vol. 36-1971), "Causes of Racial Disturbances: Tests of an Explanation" (ASR vol. 36-1971), "Political Orientation and Riot Participation" (ASR vol. 36-1971), "Public Perception of the Watts Riot as Social Protest (ASR vol. 36-1971), "Civil Disorder Participation: a Critical Examination of Recent Research" (ASR vol. 36-1971), "Patterns of Vandalism During Civil Disorders as an Indicator of Selection of Targets" (ASR vol. 37-1972), Rejoinder to Political Orientation and Riot Participation (ASR vol. 37-1972), and "Causes of Racial Disorders: a Grievance-level Explanation" (ASR vol. 38-1973).

It is plausible that journal coverage was a function of various attributes of the conflict itself. Once again, therefore, we examine whether the nature of the conflict exerted an effect on journal coverage. In particular, three attributes are considered: the geographic dispersion of conflict events, the frequency with which they occurred and the overall severity of the events. The severity index is a qualitative ranking provided by Bryan Downes of the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

As the data reveals, none of the measured attributes has any effect on the amount or depth of coverage that takes place. Between the period of 1963 and 1968, for 40 sample cities, 94 riots occurred with varying levels of severity. The highest point of conflict occurred in 1967. During the same time period only 3 articles appeared in the ASR addressing the issue of racial disturbances; one appeared before 1967 and two appeared afterward. Following the decreased level of conflict journal coverage did increase, however. As noted, nine articles appeared on the subject after it was over. These results suggest that journal coverage was not receptive to the social consequences manifested within the conflictual period (Table 3).

In regards to the depth of analysis, few of the articles published provide any

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in depth structural explanations - t h e power and ideology of U.S. capitalism. Similar to the results of the Vietnam war the average score was one. Moreover, none seriously pursue any lines of inquiry that would call into question the non-democratic and unrepresentative nature of the political system that forced blacks to take "extra parliamentary action" - an obvious hypothesis. Rather, the specifics of the black uprisings are discussed and their political significance are subsumed within abstract categories ("civil disorder") or are attached to studies of human subjectivity ("public perceptions"). The long term, large scale institutional forces, relations and interests that shape "perceptions" are notable by their absence.

That most of the studies should take place after the events have long lost their political cutting edge has several possible explanations. One is that long lead time is necessary for social scientists to reorient their thinking about urban policies in America; another is the fear of journal editors of entering areas of conflict and contreversy that treads upon canonical views of the nature of American society; finally, and what we think is more likely the case, social scientists were intellectually unprepared to rethink their existing functionalist- pluralist paradigm of how American society works and hence did not have the conceptual tools to apply to the emerging issues. Hence, we observe the tendency to continue publishing micro-studies while literally the cities burned around them.

Exploring an alternative explanation

It could be suggested that articles were not being written on the subjects of Vietnam and the black uprisings. Instead of the APSR and ASR systematically ignoring these conflicts, perhaps the scholars and researchers themselves were more to blame; this continues the line of thought developed above. The data,


Total no. On riots Depth Rate

1952-1963 The seeds of the uprisings 720 0 0 0

1964-1970 Black uprising 336 3 2 0.0089

1971-1979 Cessation of conflict 459 9 3 0.019

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Table 3. List of riot characteristics for sample of forty disorder cities.

Frequency Frequency Overall severity ('63-'68) ('69-'70) index

Birmingham, Ala. 4 0 5 Oakland, Cal. 3 1 1 New Haven, Conn. 2 0 5 Wilmington, Del. 3 0 8 Riviera Beach, Fla. 1 0 2 Tampa, Fla. 1 0 10 Alton, Ill. 1 0 0 Rockford, Ill. 1 0 1 Des Moines, Iowa 5 1 4 Wichita, Ka. 2 0 3 Cambridge, Md. 4 0 5 Detroit, Mich. 6 3 26 Hint, Mich. 1 1 1 Kalamazoo, Mich. 5 l 3 Mt. Clemens, Mich. 1 0 0 Pontiac, Mich. 1 0 5 Saginaw, Mich. 2 0 2 Ypsilanti, Mich. 1 0 0 Minneapolis, Minn. 3 0 2 Kansas City, Mo. 1 1 1 Omaha, Neb. 4 2 8 Englewood, N.J. 1 0 2 Newark, N.J. 2 1 23 Plainfield, N.J. 1 1 2 Albany, N.Y. 1 0 2 Buffalo, N.Y. 2 0 11 Lackawanna, N.Y. 1 0 0 Rochester, N.Y. 2 l 15 Syracuse, N.Y. 3 1 4 Wyandanch, N.Y. 1 0 1 Durham, N.C. 1 0 1 Cincinatti, Ohio 3 0 14 Cleveland, Ohio 6 1 25 Dayton, Ohio 3 1 3 Springfield, Ohio 1 0 1 Philadelphia, Pa. 5 2 19 Pittsburgh, Pa. 5 1 13 Nashville, Tenn. 2 0 4 Houston, Tex. 1 1 3 Milwaukee, Wis. 1 0 12

(Data taken from Black Violence: Political Impact of the 1960's Riots, page. 18 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978)

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however, does not bear this out; articles on the subject were being written by some scholars but just not within the APSR and the ASR.

In addressing this issue, given the divergence in emphases revealed by Political Science and Sociology on the topics of Vietnam and black uprisings, we have decided to survey other journals from these respective areas. This is done in order to gauge how much was written within less prestigious journals and with what depth of analysis. Specifically, we use the Journal of In- ternational Affairs (JIA) and the Journal of Social Issues (JSI) for the U.S.- Vietnamese conflict, and the American Journal of Sociology (AJS) and Social Problems (Soc P.) for the Black uprisings. The number of articles utilized within this analysis is taken from an average obtained by three randomly selected journals from the periods prior to, during, and after the respective conflicts (Table 4). 1

As seen from the accompanying tables journal coverage did exist at varying levels of frequency and depth of analysis. For the U.S.-Vietnamese war, the JIA discussed the topic of interstate conflict in all periods considered. Al- though the rate at which they address the war is marginal, the JSI was consistent with the APSR's coverage of the conflict. The JSI discussed the event as it occurred; four articles appearing during the period of conflict itself.

In regards to the Black uprisings, the coverage is more responsive to the conflict but less adept at placing the uprising within a larger context. For example, 8 out of 12 articles appeared during the conflictual period; all except one being written after the largest disturbances of 1967. The depth of analysis, however, was uniformly low, exceeding the score of one only once (Table 5).2


Total no. On Vietnam Depth Rate

1954-1963 Making of the client regime

JIA 1 153 1 1 0.0065 JSF 270 0 0 0

1964-1974 Imperial War

JIA 170 3 1 0.0176 JSI 280 4 2 0.0142

1975-1979 Cessation of conflict

JIA 96 1 1 0.0104 JSI 192 0 0 0

JIA = Journal of International Affairs 2 JSI = Journal of Social Issues

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The point remains, outside of the official prestigious journals, the historic events were being analyzed to a greater degree by scholars. This suggests that articles were simply not being solicited or accepted within the most prestigious journals of the profession. Neither the absence of supply nor factors of benign neglect were at work; rather something of a more substantial nature was at work, touching upon the very core of social science research.

Conclusion

Why did the leading journal in political science and sociology by and large fail to anticipate or analyze the major events that dominated U.S. politics and society? Why in the best of cases (the articles published by the ASR on the "black uprisings") was analysis only possible after the fact - almost a decade after the burning issues and debates were past, and the relevance of the studies least threatening to the powers that be.

At the most general level this must be considered a fundamental failure of the intellect, an unwillingness to confront the inadequacy of the theoretical paradigm and empiricist methodology that defined the conceptual framework and operational research at the time. The models of society based on consen- sual, pluralistic concepts of American society in which major ideological and structural issues had already been resolved ill prepared journal editors for large scale, sustained challenges to public allocations and attacks on private property. In the sphere of international politics a "harmony of interests' model


Total no. On riots Depth Rate

1952-1963 The seeds of the uprisings

AJS 1 231 0 0 0 Soc p.2 484 0 0 0

1964-1970 Black uprising

AJS 126 4 1.25 0.032 Soc P. 264 4 1 0.015

1971-1979 Cessation of conflict

AJS 168 1 1 0.006 Soc P. 352 3 1 0.008

1AJS = American Journal of Sociology 2 Soc P. = Social Problems

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of U.S.-Third World relations was implicit in the "modernization" paradigm. The U.S. role was presented as a benign patron of developing countries against externally funded subversive elites, and foot-dragging local traditionals. This model contributed to undermining systematic efforts to come to grips with an imperial power confronting a peoples army. The problem, in brief, was the bankruptcy of the 1950s paradigm for the 1960s.

From the end of the Korean war to the early 1960s, what can be described as the "functional paradigm" gained ascendancy in sociology. Influential scholars argued the end of ideology, the rationality of incremental change and more fundamentally the existence of self-correcting mechanisms in a system of imperfect "equilibrium". From that paradigmatic perspective the massive outbreak of black uprisings and massive state repression was incomprehen- sible - there was no notion of profound structural contradictions, of a racially stratified state formation, or of an entrenched property system polarized on racial lines. The focus on egalitarian "values" - better understood as ideology

- which substituted for a class analysis of real existing racial-capitalism pervad- ed the sociological discipline and the journals. And since it was assumed that the macro structures and a democratic regime had resolved or were in the process of resolving the "big issues", the paradigm led researchers and editors of professional journals to focus on "sub-system" behavior and individual attitudes (micro-units) in a context of evolving progressive problem solving.

The situation in political science was, if anything, much worse. With the advent of the Cold War, influential political scientists elaborated a paradigm of international relations which dichotomized the world between a benign West and an expansive evil empire in the East. Within this framework the principal units of analysis were "elites" which "mobilized" democratic publics (West) or "coerced" recalcitrant masses (East).

The notion of Western imperialism was discarded as was a nuanced analysis of long-standing national allegiances and indigenous social-bonds that under- gird nationalist movements in the Third World. Having dismissed the historical roots of popular revolutionary movements in the Third World, many scholars who opted for the big-power real-politic view were incapable of understanding the sustained and massive nature of the Vietnamese resistance movement to the war. Having opted for the "modernization" conception of U.S. intervention in the Third World as a benign dispenser of know how, investment and "security aid", the discipline was ill equipped to explain the carpet bombing, forced relocation camps, "strategic hamlets" - the contribu- tion of the "neutral scholar" - and scorched earth policies that accompanied the U.S. invasion.

Intellectually disarmed, neither discipline contributed toward any profound understanding of the ensuing conflicts - thus undermining any effort at pre- emptive changes that might have prevented the crises. Even as the conflicts

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unfolded, the rigid hold of the outmoded paradigm continued to prevent any serious analysis of the tragic outcomes. The most serious and consequential discussion took place outside of the leading professional journals- in weeklies and less academically prestigious outlets. Finally, even after the events, serious retrospective analyses (post mortems) appeared in the sociology journals, but not in political science. Apparently the latter operates in a much more intellectually insulated universe, which precludes critical reflection.

The "lag" between changes in the larger world and the incapacity of the social sciences to rethink paradigmatic assumptions is certainly one conclusion that we can draw from this study. The question remains whether we can expect different outcomes in the future - or whether the best we can expect is retrospective commentators, a decade after historical changes have occurred and been codified in other texts.

When social scientists complain of a public indifference and low esteem, rather than blame an anti-intellectual public, it would be more appropriate in Socratic fashion to re-examine their paradigmatic assumptions and contribu- tion to this state of affairs.

Notes

1. The articles identified are as follows: Journal of International Affairs:

"Trouble in Vietnam", Vol. 1 (1956); "Sociological and Psychological Aspects of Vietnam's Partition", Vol. 18 (1964); "Misperception and Aggression in Vietnam", Vol. 21 (1967); "Impact of Pacification on Insurgency in South Vietnam", Vol. 25 (1971); "International Decisions and the Escalation of the Vietnam War", Vol. 51 (1975).

Journal of Social Issues: "Misperception and the Vietnam War", Vol. 22 (1966); "Group Process and Social In- tegration: a Systems Analysis of 2 Movements of Social Protest", Vol. 23 (1967); "Study of Participants in an Anti-Vietnam War Demonstration", Vol. 27 (1971); "Attitudes, Values and Ascription of Responsibility: the Calley Case", Vol. 29 (1973).

American Journal of Sociology: "Urban Racial Violence in the U.S.: Changing Ecological Considerations", Vol. 66 (1960); "Isolation, Powerlessness and Violence: a Study of Attitudes and Participation in a Watts Riot", Vol. 73 (1968); "Index of Riot Severity and Some Correlates", Vol. 74 (1969); "Index of Riot Severity and Some Correlates - Reply with Rejoinder", Vol. 75 (1970); "Black Invisibility, the Press and the L.A. Riot", Vol. 76 (1971).

Social Problems: "Riots: a Test of the Congruity of Events", Vol. 15 (1968); "Los Angelos Riot of August 1965", Vol. 16 (1968); "Interracial Social Contact and Middle - Class White Reactions to the Watts Riot", Vol. 16 (1969); "Participation in the Los Angelos Riot", Vol. 17 (1969); "Black Ghetto Violence: a Case Study Inquiry into the Spatial Pattern of Four L.A. Riot Event-

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Types", Vol. 19 (1972); "Riots and Welfare: Are They Related?", Vol. 21 (1974); "Continuities in Delinquency and Riot Patterns in Black Residential Areas", Vol. 23 (1976).

2. In particular here we are referring to the American Journal of Sociology article entitled "Isolation, Powerlessness and Violence: A Study of Attitudes of Participation in the Watts Riot" of March 1968. Although only the Watts riot is discussed, possible causal factors considered several issues addressing the larger socio-economic and political structure. This we felt merited a larger point score than one.

Documents

Prestigious publications and public relevance: Vietnam war and black protest in the ASR and APSR