We aim to serve as a hub for a growing international network of like-minded researchers and institutions...
Exploring the vast empirical zone between progressive academia and the JCI

Our aim is not to pursue the extremely controversial (i.e. race and IQ or other topics that appear in the Journal of Controversial Ideas) but rather the vast empirical zone between progressive academia and the JCI. We believe that the social sciences have been distorted by excessive normative barriers to publication as well as by political prejudice. This has skewed the entire academic enterprise and, by extension, the state of knowledge in the social sciences and humanities.

Challenging Unscientific Orthodoxies
The Centre will publish and disseminate research to challenge unscientific orthodoxies in the social sciences and humanities. For instance, around explanations of race and gender achievement gaps (are these really due to discrimination?), perceptions of history (i.e. ignorance of non-western genocide, slavery, colonialism), causes of social problems (why is culture neglected?) or the lack of attention to left extremism as compared to right extremism. Our unconventional explanations may be wrong, but only the clash of viewpoints and ideas, adhering to scientific norms of measurement and falsifiablity, can help sift strong from weak theories.
Advancing Knowledge
Our work can help to advance and reframe the state of knowledge around questions that many social scientists currently seek to answer, such as what drives inequality and injustice, and how to counter this.
Yet these should not be the only questions that academic research addresses. What about topics that are deemed unfashionable or undesirable for ideological reasons? We believe that the academic enterprise is focusing primarily on issues of inequality of outcome, power differentials, and harms to disadvantaged race, sex and gender groups. These are important questions, but work on them has come at the expense of investigating problems of freedom, social cohesion, beauty, human flourishing, and excellence. A positive social science that seeks to advance human happiness and excellence is required alongside the current focus on ameliorating negative social outcomes.[1]
A further aim is to propound a new sociological-philosophical framework, a kind of ‘Reverse Critical Theory’ that can guide scholarship going forward and counter the normative dominance of Critical Theory and egalitarian philosophies.
Finally, we aim to serve as a hub for a growing international network of like-minded researchers and institutions, a countercultural social science and humanities scholarship. We believe that we can play a vital role in rebalancing the academic enterprise, restoring trust in universities and helping to contribute to a less fractured and more cohesive society dedicated to all aspects of human flourishing.
[1] Thin, N. (2014). “Positive Sociology and Appreciative Empathy: History and Prospects.” Sociological Research Online 19(2): 1-14.
Our People
Professor Eric Kaufmann
Director
Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham and Director of the Centre for Heterodox Social Science. He directs Buckingham's new course…

Luke Martin
Teaching Fellow
Dr Luke Martin teaches theology and philosophy at Eton College. He's passionate about exploring the space where faith meets culture.

Neema Parvini
Honorary Research Fellow
Dr Neema Parvini is the author of eight books including The Prophets of Doom (2023), The Populist Delusion (2022), The Defenders of Liberty (2020), Shakespeare's…

Chloe Ward
Honorary Research Fellow
Chloe is an HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologist and co-founder of an exercise psychology consultancy called The Psychology of Movement. She works with people seeking to enhance…

Professor Matthew Goodwin
Visiting Professor
Matt Goodwin is an academic, bestselling author, pollster, and speaker known for his research on: politics, populism, elections, voting, public opinion, Brexit, Europe, academic freedom and more. Most…

Lawrence Patihis
Visiting Professor
Dr Lawrence Patihis, PhD is a heterodox psychological scientist, with a core interest in false memories, iatrogenic psychotherapies, and detecting pseudoscience. He is a senior…

J.D. Haltigan
Honorary Research Fellow
Dr J. D. Haltigan is a researcher in the fields of developmental and evolutionary psychopathology, measurement science, and psychiatric nosology. His current work explores the…

David Rozado
Honorary Research Fellow
David Rozado received his PhD in Computer Science from the Autonomous University of Madrid in 2011. His research lies at the intersection of technology and…

Jan van de Beek
Honorary Research Fellow
Jan van de Beek (b. 1968) studied pure mathematics and cultural anthropology and obtained his doctorate on a study of the production of scientific knowledge…

Gorby Jandu
Junior Research Fellow
Dr Gorby Jandu’s research examines the relationship between national identity and ethnicity in liberal democracies that have experienced prolonged periods of peace. His work spans…

David Cowan
Honorary Research Fellow
David Cowan is graduating with a PhD in History at the University of Cambridge where he previously gained a BA in History and MPhil in…

Stephen Webb
Honorary Research Fellow
Stephen Webb is Head of Government Reform and Home Affairs at the think tank Policy Exchange. Stephen joined the Civil Service in 1991. He started…
