ABSTRACT
Concepts are perhaps the basic element in each field’s patrimony, and each has a history. There are two sources of new concepts. First, scientists may discover a hitherto-unknown object or phenomenon. The second, and primary source of concepts in the social sciences is the recategorization of previously known objects. Any concept developed for some new phenomenon by one discipline may have implications for others. The concept forced economists and others to confront questions such as the consequences of English-Portuguese trade, lauded by David Ricardo but understood as a classic example of how dependence can inhibit economic development. The concept of “public opinion” has spread from history to political science to sociology and social psychology, and it is indispensible in some specialities of the latter disciplines. Simply having such a concept in one’s inventory may change the way a scholar views the role of gender in society.
