Research funders throw down a gauntlet about the "grand challenges" of our time, like a cure for cancer, or eradicating poverty. But "normal science" is the practice of the particular. Our knowledge comes in glimpses, not the arc of the floodlight. This article argues that if we want to build a cumulative knowledge of the social, we need to synthesize, not fragment, and to talk across borders, not put up fences. Critical qualitative inquiry can be a vital corrective to the "grand challenge" mindset, but only if we help the wider research community understand our message.