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Knowledge Compromise(d)? Ways and values of coproduction in academia

På svenska

Author

  • Josefine Fischer

Summary, in English

This thesis deals with the colonisation of the university by market forces. The object of inquiry is coproduction of academic knowledge between academic and non-academic actors in newly established universities and university colleges in Sweden. The development of knowledge as a main competitive advantage for commercial companies, and the shift in policies accompanying this development, provides an explanation for the introduction of market mechanisms into the governance of university research. The main contribution of the thesis, however, is the analyses of three coproducing research centres – in service research, engineering and collaborative media – on the basis of epistemology, interpreted as different knowledge cultures. In most policy accounts knowledge is treated as homogeneous, which is problematic as it conceals differences in academic disciplines’ relations to the object or phenomenon of inquiry. Such differences have bearing on publication patterns, prospects of generating academic credibility and possibilities to engage external partners in coproduction relationships. Importantly, this has an impact on the prospects of attracting various sources of funding that are of significance for newly established universities and university colleges with fewer fixed resources than the old universities. It is argued that not only are we witnessing a colonisation of the entire university by market forces, but also a colonisation of social science and humanities by science - scientific perspectives and work ways and the technical knowledge interest.

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Document type

Dissertation

Publisher

Lund University (Media-Tryck)

Topic

  • Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified

Keywords

  • epistemology
  • knowledge interest
  • research policy
  • coproduction
  • university college

Status

Published

Supervisor

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978-91-7623-543-0
  • ISBN: 978-91-7623-542-3

Defence date

20 November 2015

Defence time

10:00

Defence place

Room 128, Stora Algatan 4, Lund

Opponent

  • Fredrik Åström