ABSTRACT
The essays in this collection have illustrated how global or national crises impact on local societies and how their responses are shaped by the local social divisions, inequalities, and associated tensions these societies bring into the bargain. In short, what can be observed is a two-way process of interaction between differently positioned but significantly connected groups of human subjects. In the course of these concluding reflections, I would like to draw out some of the epistemological and ethical implications of this observation for social science in general, and for studies of social inequality and change in particular.
