Once valued for revealing the truths of the social world, the social sciences are currently under threat by the Trump administration and conservative politicians across the country. Under the guise of budget trimming and truth telling, the study of social sciences is being restricted in order to weaken the public’s understanding of inequality, extremism and democratic decline.
In 2024, officials in Florida removed sociology from the list of courses that fulfill core requirements at public universities, opting to replace the class with a more “factual history course” alternative. Such a statement suggests sociology is an invalid field, undermining its importance. More recently, in March, the Pentagon eliminated its social science research efforts in order to “ensure fiscal responsibility and prioritize mission-critical activities.” Under this directive, projects including Democracy Quest and The Language of Parasocial Influence and the Emergence of Extremism have been eliminated, with such research being framed as less essential to fund in comparison to technology.
However, the attacks on social sciences are not about fiscal responsibility or teaching factual information. In our current era of misinformation, democratic backsliding and social inequality, efforts by the current administration to undermine these disciplines are deliberate attempts to suppress data that contradicts their political agenda. Sociology, in particular, exposes uncomfortable truths about systemic racism, gender inequality and persisting homophobia in the United States — real issues the administration continuously neglects to address. In defunding and eliminating social research, the public is left without information that could be used to challenge claims made by the administration, making it imperative to save the discipline.
Undermining the social sciences allows the administration to control the social narrative. In the absence of data and research, false narratives surrounding marginalized groups (including people of color, immigrants and the LGBTQIA+ community) can go unchallenged, thus manipulating the public to view them unfavorably. An attack on the social sciences is an attack on truth itself, ultimately leaving democracy vulnerable to prejudice, propaganda and censorship.