<p>Social science research has dramatically increased its embrace of normativity in substance and style. This paper explores the consequences of this normativity creep on the creation, application, and evaluation of theory in academic research. Using interdisciplinary punishment studies as my case, I argue that normativity is taking the place of theory: it is replacing theory and, in its importance, overtaking theory, blunting our understanding of important phenomena. Scholars are using normative pronouncements in place of theory because, for many scholars, the goals and rules of social science research have changed. The rise of new goals and rules of research represents a shift in the logic of research from a primarily science-based logic to a primarily activist-based logic. I close by discussing some of the real-world stakes of the science–activism tension affecting not only theory development but academia more generally.</p>