ABSTRACT
Knowing one theory or one conceptual perspective inside out might make us erudite specialists within certain fi elds but it won’t help us to fi nd our way in a world awash with theories. The accumulation of an ever-growing number of theories and research paradigms has been the cause for considerable alarm and even despondency for many social scientists. I take a different view. Rather than taking it as evidence of an immature science, I see the diversity of social theories as a genuine outcome of the multifaceted nature of social realities and therefore an opportunity for appreciating and learning rather than as a problem to be overcome. More than this, theoretical pluralism also gives us the chance to develop integrative overviews by which we can discover connections within that variety.
