PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Do we need certainty? Actually that might be affirmed because of fake news and trumpism. On the contrary social constructivism posits that objectivity is not possible but only the compromise of different points of view. Consequently historiography does not mirror the past but constructs narrations which are cogent and correspond to the sources but never are objective. The request for certainty seems to be satisfied by some new approaches in sociology and philosophy: new realism, new materialism an actor-network-theory. They reject the fear of the truth they accuse of constructivism. Their epistemology is based on practices and material things, so agency is not reduced to human beings. Those approaches do not focus on history. Can they be transferred to that area of investigation and prove wrong constructive narrativism?