Public Sector Research: A Growing Role in Innovation Systems

This essay highlights three converging trendsexperienced by `public sector research' duringthe past decade. Looking especially at France,our discussion draws attention to the new rolesof universities, the blurring of relationshipsbetween types of research institutions andresearch activities, and the development of`research collectives' as an organizationalfeature now emerging throughout Europe.     

The Cost of Critique: In(ter)vention and Ethical Violence in Kristeva and Benjamin

In this essay we argue that there is an important but frequently overlooked link between Walter Benjamin’s and Julia Kristeva’s attempts to explore new modes of critical practice. What connects Benjamin and Kristeva, in our account, is a vital concern with the cost of critique, that is, with the question whether critical agency in its most productive modes is inherently related to certain forms of ethical violence. We aim to show that, once we read them together, these authors’ pivotal contribution consists of offering an alternative model of critique animated by an ethos of in(ter)-vention, which is keyed to techniques of criticism that are both disruptive and innovative. Ethical violence here refers to a strategic displacement of moral self-perception, which undercuts people’s aspirations toward maintaining a morally robust character in the face of political adversity and social injustice. To illustrate the stakes of such displacement, we turn to the figure of the ‘anti-journalist’ Karl Kraus whose in(ter)ventions display integrity in action rather than integrity of character. Specifically, under the rubric of ethical violence, we propose a dynamic interpretation of Kraus’ performance in terms of polemical witnessing, which combines the corrosive aspects of Benjamin’s ‘destructive character’ with the constructive aspects contained in Kristeva’s notions of ‘sharing singularity’ and ‘intimate revolt’.     

The Role of Expectations of Science in Shaping Research Policy: A Discursive Analysis of the Creation of Genome Canada

This paper examines the promise of science and its role in shaping research policy. The promise of science is characterized by expectations of science, which are embedded in promissory discourses that envision futures made possible through advances in promising science. Through a single case study of the origins of Genome Canada, the research was guided by the question: How did expectations of genomics shape the creation of Genome Canada? A conceptualization of discursive power and expectations of genomics storylines provide the theoretical and analytical basis for an in-depth examination of the ideational effects and material impacts on research policy decisions over three years (1997–2000) that culminated in the creation of Genome Canada. Expectations of genomics storylines functioned in a complex interplay of discursive practices and dynamics among diverse policy actors within a genomics discourse-coalition to produce a range of ideational and material impacts. The expectations of genomics storylines produced powerful genomics subject-positions from which policy actors perceived their interests, identities and preferences and gained agency, which led to various material impacts, such as mobilizing support and funding, coordinating activities and transforming Canada’s research policy framework. With the increasing importance of research policy to a range of broader policy priorities underpinned by expectations that science will resolve societal challenges and contribute to socio-economic benefits, this paper sheds light on how complex research policy decisions are made; it further contributes to understanding the role of promissory discourses in shaping those decisions.

     

University Research Evaluation and Funding: An International Comparison

Many countries have introducedevaluations of university research, reflectingglobal demands for greater accountability. Thispaper compares methods of evaluation usedacross twelve countries in Europe and theAsia-Pacific region. On the basis of thiscomparison, and focusing in particular onBritain, we examine the advantages anddisadvantages of performance-based funding incomparison with other approaches to funding.Our analysis suggests that, while initialbenefits may outweigh the costs, over time sucha system seems to produce diminishing returns.This raises important questions about itscontinued use.     

The Determinants of Artistic Innovation: Bringing in the Role of Organizations

This article deals with the determinants of artistic innovation by arts organizations. First, we define artistic innovation. Second, we review the literature on its determinants, identifying some gaps. In particular, we observe that existing research mostly focuses on macro-environmental factors and tends to ignore the role of the organizations themselves. Thus, drawing from the organizational literature on innovation we formulate testable propositions that relate organizational factors to artistic innovation. We hope that our focus on organizational factors contributes to a more comprehensive framework on the determinants of artistic innovation in particular and programming in general.     

The Role of Competition in the Rise of Baroque and Renaissance Music

Section 1 introduces the hypothesis that competition among neighboring states may favor cultural innovation, and it surveys the available quantitative evidence. Section 2 starts from the assumption that European instrumental music had its breakthrough during the Baroque era and that the most famous composers came from the two countries characterized by the highest degree of political fragmentation: Italy and Germany. It suggests that political fragmentation has promoted musical composition and performance in several ways. The average duration of employment is proposed as a proxy for competition on the demand side. Section 3 shows that the most famous Italian and German composers of the Baroque period changed their employers significantly more often than their French and British counterparts did. Moreover, the Reformation led to musical competition between the Catholic and Protestant churches. Section 4 argues that competition for composers has also been important in other periods of European history – including competition between the Church and the courts. It shows that composers moved no less in the Renaissance than in the Baroque. Section 5 raises the question whether European music may also be said to express a competitive spirit. JEL classification: Z11     

The Rise of Computing Research in East Africa: The Relationship Between Funding,Capacity and Research Community in a Nascent Field

The emergence of vibrant research communities of computer scientists in Kenya and Uganda has occurred in the context of neoliberal privatization, commercialization, and transnational capital flows from donors and corporations. We explore how this funding environment configures research culture and research practices, which are conceptualized as two main components of a research community. Data come from a three-year longitudinal study utilizing interview, ethnographic and survey data collected in Nairobi and Kampala. We document how administrators shape research culture by building academic programs and training growing numbers of PhDs, and analyze how this is linked to complicated interactions between political economy, the epistemic nature of computer science and sociocultural factors like entrepreneurial leadership of key actors and distinctive cultures of innovation. In a donor-driven funding environment, research practice involves scientists constructing their own localized research priorities by adopting distinctive professional identities and creatively structuring projects. The neoliberal political economic context thus clearly influenced research communities, but did not debilitate computing research capacity nor leave researchers without any agency to carry out research programs. The cases illustrate how sites of knowledge production in Africa can gain some measure of research autonomy, some degree of global competency in a central arena of scientific and technological activity, and some expression of their regional cultural priorities and aspirations. Furthermore, the cases suggest that social analysts must balance structure with culture, place and agency in their approaches to understanding how funding and political economy shape scientific knowledge.     

The economic impact of intellectual property rights: An overview and guide

This paper, adapted from a conference presentation in Venice, links the history of intellectual property protection to two important trends in this field: (1) the shifting baseline, from a presumption of no property rights and open competition, to the presumption that all intellectual effort deserves the award of a property right; and (2) growing awareness of the political economy of these rights, which legislators can create and strengthen with little direct effect on government budgets. The paper also considers a shift in the scholarly emphasis, from the brand question of the overall worth of intellectual property to defailed consideration of individual doctrines and rules.     

The Role of Professionals in the South African Chemical and Biological Warfare Programme

This paper provides a short accountof the South African Defence Force's chemical and biologicalwarfare programme during apartheid, specifically during the period 1980 to 1994. It examines the circumstances ofrecruitment of the scientists and physiciansand their retention in the programme; detailsthe `scientific efforts' of the programme andits aberrations; and explores ethical issues inrelation to the involvement of scientists inthe programme.     

Beyond Private and Public Research: The Legal and Organizational Reality Behind Industrial Research Institutes in Interwar France

The initiatives attempting to forge links between the academia and the industry flourished in France after World War I. The so-called “industrial institutes” shared a common goal: to reinvigorate the French economy through science. Because of their focus on applied research, they differed from traditional engineering schools that usually neglected laboratory work and innovation. However, while the industrial institutes were a distinct category that shows broader trends in science-industry relations, from a formal point of view they did not constitute a coherent category. The term “institute” was ambiguous and applied to various legal and administrative arrangements. While the French state attempted to unify terminology by introducing “faculty institutes” through the 1920 Decree on the constitution of universities, the measure was not sufficient to englobe all types of institutions. The diversity of organizational realities behind the industrial institutes is, however, useful for analyzing power structures and hierarchies in a given industrial sector. The legal form of an industrial institute was conditioned by the state and the robustness of the industry that funded it. As such, the history of the French industrial institutes may constitute a fertile ground for broader analyses on the impact of power relations on the legal reality behind the initiatives uniting science and industry.     

楚辞在文章骈俪化过程中的地位和影响

中国古代众多文体都滥觞于先秦时期,骈文也不例外.但是,同<周易><尚书>,以及后来的<左传><国语><战国策>,<老子><论语><墨子><荀子><孟子><庄子><韩非子>等著述相比,楚辞在文章骈俪化过程中的地位尤其重要,可以说是骈文的先声.我们不仅可以在屈、宋楚辞中找到骈文的基本要素如对偶、声韵、藻饰、用典等等,而且还可以看出其中某些要素已经达到相当成熟的地步,骈俪趋势十分明显,对后世骈文家的创作影响甚大,在中国古代骈文史上占据着相当重要的位置.     

The Academy and the Engineering Sciences: An Unwelcome Royal Gift

On 19 March 1900, at the bicentenary celebrations of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Kaiser Wilhelm II established three new fellowships in engineering sciences. This was in many aspects an unwanted gift, and one which tested the Academys relationship between pure and applied science. In the context of contemporary struggles between traditional and modern knowledge, this paper shows how the Academy confronted the newly emerging engineering sciences, and how it resolved a potential challenge in ways that ensured its continuing autonomy.     

The Transformation of Agricultural Research in France: The Introduction of the American System

In 1916, French entomologist Paul Marchal published a seminal report on the contemporary state of agricultural research in the United States of America. His recommendations underlined the need for a close relationship between research and education, a factor vital to national survival in the aftermath of the Great War. This essay discusses the context of this report, and assesses its consequences for government policy towards agricultural research and education in France.