Institutional Struggles for Recognition in the Academic Field: The Case of University Departments in German Chemistry

Preventing Cooperative Knowledge Production From Falling Apart

“…We may thereby conclude that this type of knowledge production demands a rather complex set of trust-building practices, and that these practices may not always be compatible with each other or with idea of a simple change toward a new instrumental and market-driven Mode 2 academia (Gibbons et al, 1994; Munch & Baier, 2012). The new demands on trust in knowledge production that we point at rather encourage academia to manage parallel practices and as a consequence potential tensions within the emerging arrangement of collaboration.…”

“…Previous research has often investigated the academic perspective on contemporary changes at universities, from being conventional centers of academic expertise toward being centers for entrepreneurial knowledge production, with greater emphasize on joint knowledge production together with business and other parts of working life (Etzkowitz, 2008; Munch & Baier, 2012; Slaughter & Leslie, 1997). The purpose of this article has been to analyze under what circumstances practitioners, taking part in such an initiative, perceive this type of joint knowledge production together with social science researchers as worthwhile to engage in.…”

“…Academics are no longer able to rely only on the collegial guidance or control from equals; they are rather becoming involved in new forms of knowledge production—the so-called Mode 2—where the focus is on delivering defined expertise, solving problems, and the ability to meet the external demands articulated by diverse political groups, professions, companies, and associations (Etzkowitz, 2008; Gibbons et al, 1994; Nowotny et al, 2001; Slaughter & Leslie, 1997). This type of change has also been described as New Public Management reforms (Munch & Baier, 2012; Schubert, 2010) nurturing a move away from trust built on conventional academic expertise toward an academy building new types of trust on an arena for joint knowledge production where explorative research gives way to knowledge generation serving more instrumental purposes.…”

“…To stand strong in an increasing national and international competition, universities are developing clear market strategies and new modes of cooperation with companies, public authorities, and NGOs in surrounding society—that is, they are mobilizing both legitimacy and resources from external actors to strengthen and sometimes expand their ongoing work. This change is sometimes described in more general terms as New Public Management or Mode 2 initiatives (Gibbons et al, 1994; Munch & Baier, 2012; Nowotny, Scott, & Gibbons, 2001). The daily work of individual researchers then involves listening to what type of education and research society wishes academia to engage in.…”

The direct subordination of universities to the accumulation of capital

“…Simple Universities do not generally win research competitive grants because research is not their core activity. Following Münch and Baier (2012) in the context of academic capitalism competition leads to oligopolistic structures where a small number of institutions appropriate most of the research funds, which better positions them to keep winning. Furthermore, considering global standards, they cannot compete with Enhanced or Technological Universities in the quality of the commodified teaching service, the higher education market is further differentiated, so they target those students that are rejected by other universities.…”