Competition in the Scientific Field
Competition in the Scientific Field: Power and Knowledge Production in Selected Disciplines in Poland
The project aims to unravel the dynamics of scientific knowledge production in Poland, focusing on sociology, economics, and as shadow cases history, and information science/technology. Employing Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, the research examines the multidimensional distribution of scientific capital, external influences on disciplines, research strategies, and the impact of academic positions on public debate stances.
The study’s objective is to go beyond the common sense perspective on the dichotomy between the camp of scholars involved in international exchanges in scientific knowledge production and another camp focusing on local involvement, and exchanges in Polish. This is going to be achieved by the analysis of resources and conditions of the scientific competition in Poland. By employing innovative methods like multiple correspondence analysis and topic modeling, the project plans to analyze grant distribution, academic trajectories, and media statements to uncover hidden power relations, ideological influences, and structural conditions shaping scientific production.
The research sets out to answer critical questions about the structure of analyzed scientific disciplines, external forces influencing them, and the determinants of research strategies, as well as their impact on public discourse and science policy decisions. The hypotheses anticipate a multidimensional distribution of scientific capital, varied heteronomous influences from the political and economic fields, and different research strategies based on positions in the social fields of disciplines.
The significance of the project lies in its contribution to the broader body of research on science, offering insights into the semi-peripheral context of Poland and challenging existing theories by combining both symbolic and material aspects of science. The project’s pioneering nature emerges from its comprehensive approach, comparing multiple disciplines, incorporating the analysis of science policy trends, and developing the concept of multi-positionality.
The methodology involves a combination of geometric data analysis, text mining, and conventional sociological surveys, aiming to reconstruct academic fields, trace career trajectories, and unveil the relationships between scientific positions and ideological stances.
Principal investigator: dr hab. Mikołaj Pawlak, prof. UW
Key investigator: dr Tomasz Warczok
Research assistants: Tomasz Detlaf, Antoni Grześczyk
Implementing institution: Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Resocialisation – University of Warsaw
Duration: 2024-2028
Funded by: National Science Centre, project number 2023/51/B/HS6/00556
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