China Social Science Review

No.4, 2020

Mid-Range Conceptual Innovation in Area Studies: A Case Study of Central Asian Research 

(Abstract)

Zeng Xianghong

As a form of knowledge production, area studies have always faced an inherent tension between the exploration of situated knowledge and the construction of universal theory; hence the importance of promoting mid-range conceptual innovation as a possible means of overcoming this tension. Generally speaking, there are three main approaches to innovation: refining new academic concepts based on the unique experience of a given area; revising or overhauling scholarly concepts in existing disciplinary theory; and undertaking the necessary processing of the concepts used in the life-world by groups of people in a specific area. Given the difficulty of carrying out in-depth and extensive field investigations in the current academic context, Chinese researchers on Central Asia need to prioritize the second and innovative mid-range concept pathways, in order to make new breakthroughs in Central Asian studies.