When Disciplinary Worlds Collide: The Organizational Ecology of Disciplines in a University Department

Tuunainen, Juha

doi:10.1525/si.2005.28.2.205

Cited by 16 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…For example, scientists display varying attitudes concerning engagement with corporate or policy actors, ranging from advocating engagement to outright resistance (Goldstein, 2010;Holloway, 2015;Lam, 2010;Owen-Smith and Powell, 2002). What seems to account for the variety of attitudes among scientists is the fact that the current ecology of academic knowledge production is one of multiplying contradictory regimes, logics, or social worlds (for different takes on the theme of multiplicity, see Miller, 2001;Owen-Smith and Powell, 2002;Tuunainen, 2005b;Vallas and Kleinman, 2008).2 On the individual level, tensions resulting from confl icting social worlds may be experienced by scientists as considerable 'role-strain' (Boardman & Bozeman, 2007).The bulk of the literature has emphasized how organizations manage such tensions on an administrative level, emphasizing a struggle over resources. In the case of private companies using university resources ('hybrid fi rms'), tensions may be managed through geographical or physical separation and formal redistribution of academic and corporate roles and resources in an attempt to maintain what are perceived as traditional cultural boundaries (Tuunainen, 2005a(Tuunainen, , 2005bTuunainen and Knuuttila, 2009).…”

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“…What seems to account for the variety of attitudes among scientists is the fact that the current ecology of academic knowledge production is one of multiplying contradictory regimes, logics, or social worlds (for different takes on the theme of multiplicity, see Miller, 2001;Owen-Smith and Powell, 2002;Tuunainen, 2005b;Vallas and Kleinman, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Although we have a fairly good idea of how organizations manage tensions resulting from the changing institutional landscape on an administrative level (Guston, 1999;Miller, 2001;Parker and Crona, 2012;Tuunainen, 2005aTuunainen, , 2005bTuunainen and Knuuttila, 2009;Wehrens et al, 2013), knowledge production 'on the ground' is still relatively unexplored. The aim of this paper is thus to contribute empirical detail regarding knowledge production under conditions of directed research funding, and to further the understanding of how scientists construct scientifi c problems under pressures to make their work relevant for societal and commercial purposes.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In the case of private companies using university resources ('hybrid fi rms'), tensions may be managed through geographical or physical separation and formal redistribution of academic and corporate roles and resources in an attempt to maintain what are perceived as traditional cultural boundaries (Tuunainen, 2005a(Tuunainen, , 2005bTuunainen and Knuuttila, 2009). In the case of specialized 'boundary organizations' dedicated to coordinating and facilitating research spanning multiple domains (i.e.…”

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The Mundane Politics of ‘Security Research’

Möllers

2017

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Since the late 20th century, Germany's federal science policy has shifted towards an emphasis on commercialization and/or applicability of academic research. University researchers working within such strategic funding schemes then have to balance commitments to their government commission, their research, and their academic careers, which can often be at odds with each other. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the development of a 'smart' video surveillance system, I analyze some of the strategies which have helped a government-funded, transdisciplinary group of researchers to navigate confl icting expectations from their government, academia, and the wider public in their everyday work. To varying degrees, they managed to align confl icting expectations from the government and their departments by tailoring research problems which were able to travel across diff erent social worlds. By drawing attention to work practices on the ground' , this article contributes ethnographic detail to the question of how researchers construct scientifi c problems under pressures to make their work relevant for societal and commercial purposes.Keywords: directed funding, commercialization, tailoring, boundary work, algorithms, surveillance technology 'Neoliberal technoscience' and directed research fundingSince 2007, the German Ministry for Education and Research has funded projects which are supposed to develop security technologies and procedures with a funding scheme called the "Security Research Program." The program has heavily emphasized the development of new surveillance technologies, such as those used to monitor urban spaces. Funding requirements for university researchers include the commitment to fi nding solutions to security problems, collaboration with small and medium enterprises, and the inclusion of social scientists or legal scholars. The research program's goal is to increase citizens' security through transdisciplinary research, and to strengthen the position of German companies on national and international markets by transferring the research to security products and services.Directed funding schemes like the Security Research Program can be situated in an ongoing debate on 'neoliberal technoscience' and the increasing commercialization and applicability of scientifi c research. As Lave, Mirowski, and Randalls (2010: 667) point out, cross-cutting features of 'neoliberal technoscience' include, among other Science & Technology Studies 30(2) Article 15Möllers things, the "rollback of public funding for universities" and "the separation of research and teaching missions, leading to rising numbers of temporary faculty." Particularly the rollback of long-term funding makes scientists more dependent on short-term directed funding schemes sponsored by industry or governments, and thus more amenable to the latter's demands to make their research relevant for societal or commercial purposes.However, it remains a subject of ongoing debate how and to what extent knowledge production is changing under condit...

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The Mundane Politics of ‘Security Research’

Möllers

2017

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Divided and Drifting: Interactionism and the Neglect of Social Organizational Analyses in Organization Studies

McGinty

2014

Symbolic Interaction

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Hybrid practices? Contributions to the debate on the mutation of science and university

Tuunainen

2005

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This article reflects on current debate over transformations of scientific research and universities. Four well-known mutation theories (Mode-2 knowledge production, triple helix of university-industry-government relations, academic capitalism and enterprise university), and their recent critiques, are reviewed. It is suggested that a better understanding of the changes can be achieved by drawing analytic insight from research that speaks about scientific practices. Advantages that may be so attained are illustrated through a case study of a plant-biotechnology research group that pursued to straddle the fuzzy university-business boundary. On such grounds, three arguments that pertain to the mutation theories are put forward: (1) the need to appreciate the dynamics between theoretical, experimental and applied dimensions of research work;(2) the fact that external research funding intermingles with the complex social ecology of disciplines at the departmental level of universities; (3) the difficulties academics encounter as they try to fuse their university activities with private commercial development.

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When Disciplinary Worlds Collide: The Organizational Ecology of Disciplines in a University Department

Cited by 16 publications

References 31 publications

The Mundane Politics of ‘Security Research’

The Mundane Politics of ‘Security Research’

Divided and Drifting: Interactionism and the Neglect of Social Organizational Analyses in Organization Studies

Hybrid practices? Contributions to the debate on the mutation of science and university

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