History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
ESA Conference "Visions and Divisions: Challenges to European Sociology"
5th ESA Conference "Visions and Divisions: Challenges to European Sociology"
August 28th — September 1st, 2001, University of Helsinki, Finland
Research Network Sociology of Science and Technology (SSTNET)
Commodification of Knowledge
Coordinators:
Raymund Werle: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, Germany
e-mail: werle@mpi-fg-koeln.mpg.de
Maria Nedeva: PREST Victoria University, Manchester, United Kingdom
e-mail: maria.nedeva@man.ac.uk
Franc Mali: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
e-mail: mailto:franc.mali@uni-lj.si
Maarten Mentzel: Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: mailto:m.a.mentzel@planet.nl
For general information on the conference please visit the ESA web site at:
http://www.valt.helsinki.fi/esa/helsinki.htm
Abstract
The SSTNET sessions at the Helsinki Conference of the ESA focus on the
Commodification of Knowledge
Modern complex societies are characterized as knowledge societies. Professional expertise and knowledge-based technology are needed to further develop these societies. Knowledge is also a central productive force in the "new economy." New modes of knowledge production have evolved and the products are different from traditional scientific knowledge.
Academic knowledge producers have an increasing interest in the commercial viability of knowledge and in the development of strategies that include among others setting up knowledge transfer agencies. For this purpose knowledge must assume the properties of a private commodity. Commodification may require a transformation from tacit into explicit, unstandardized into standardized, uncodified into codified knowledge and an emphasis on its exchange value rather than on its utility value.
Changes in knowledge production and the incentives (or the pressure) to commercialize knowledge correspond with significant changes in the ethical presumptions of science and the normative orientations of researchers.
As knowledge can be easily distributed via global communication networks, it can become an important source of revenue. At the same time knowledge needs special protection such as patents and other intellectual property rights to prevent unauthorized use.
Access to knowledge is unequally distributed in society. With the commodification of knowledge, access problems are likely to become relevant. This tends to undermine the basis of the knowledge society. As a consequence, political measures are taken to improve access to information (e.g. information infrastructure initiatives). There are also movements that argue for the development of knowledge as a public good.
Agenda
Session 1 (Wednesday 29: 9:00—10:30)
Coping with Commodification
Chair: Raymund Werle, Cologne, Germany
1. Luis Sanz-Menéndez & Laura Cruz-Castro, Madrid, Spain:
THE INSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF COMMODIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSITIES AND PUBLIC RESEARCH CENTERS
2. Franc Mali, Ljubljana, Slovenia:
SCIENTISTS AS MAIN ACTORS IN COMMERCIALIZATION AND CAPITALIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
3. Claire Waterton, Lancaster, United Kingdom:
NEGOTIATING IDENTITY IN COMMODIFIED SCIENCE
4. Jane Calvert, Brighton, United Kingdom:
BASIC RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC VALUES
5. Frode Frederiksen, Finn Hansson, Søren Wenneberg, Copenhagen, Denmark:
THE VALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER CHANGED CONDITIONS OF PRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Session 2 (Wednesday 29: 16:30—18:30)
Selected Problems of Commodification
Chair: Maria Nedeva, Manchester, United Kingdom
1. Pietro Morandi, Lugano, Switzerland:
INFORMATION- AND COMMUNICATION-TECHNOLOGIES AND THE USE OF KNOWLEDGE: THE CASE OF SWITZERLAND
2. June Tolsby, Aalborg, Denmark:
MOVING KNOWLEDGE AWAY FROM THE ESSENTIAL LEARNING PROCESS
3. David Hakken, Utica, NY, USA:
CAN ONE KNOW ITS VALUE BEFORE KNOWING WHAT THE BASIC UNIT FOR MEASURING KNOWLEDGE IS?: ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE QUESTION OF WHETHER KNOWLEDGE IS DIFFERENTLY COMMODIFIED IN CYBERSPACE
4. John Monk, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom:
RHETORICAL DETERMINISM
Session 3 (Thursday 30: 9:00—10:30)
General Aspects of the Commodification Process
Chair: Raymund Werle, Cologne, Germany
1. Luis Suarez-Villa, Irvine, CA, USA:
THE RISE OF TECHNOCAPITALISM: EVIDENCE AND PROCESSES
2. Emilio Luque, Madrid, Spain:
RE-FORMATTING THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
3. Thomas Hellström & Sujatha Raman, Gothenburg, Sweden and Nottingham, U.K.:
FROM KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: THE COMMODIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE-ABOUT-KNOWLEDGE
4. Milan Jaros & Petra Jedlickova, Newcastle, U.K. and Prague, Czech Republic:
TERRITORIAL ONTO-EPISTEMIC SIGNATURES OF QUASI-OBJECT COMMODITIES
5. Karel Müller, Prague, Czech Republic:
COMMODIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND ITS INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT
Session 4 (Thursday 30: 16:30—18:30)
Special Aspects of the Commodification Process
Chair: Maarten Menzel, Leiden, The Netherlands
1. Maria Nedeva, Manchester, United Kingdom:
NEW MODE OF KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION? THE DRIVE TOWARDS COMMODIFICATION OF RESEARCH AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
2. Michael Nentwich, Vienna, Austria:
(RE-)DECOMMODIFICATION IN ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE DISTRIBUTION?
3. Hans Radder, Amsterdam, The Netherlands:
HOW TO PATENT THE SUN. A CRITIQUE OF THE CONCEPT AND PRACTICE OF PRODUCT PATENTING
4. Eric J. Iversen, Oslo, Norway:
PATENTING AND VOLUNTARY STANDARDS: THE TENSION BETWEEN THE DOMAIN OF PROPRIETARY ASSETS AND THAT OF "PUBLIC GOODS" IN THE INNOVATION OF NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES
5. Ursula Holtgrewe & Raymund Werle, Duisburg and Cologne, Germany:
DE-COMMODIFYING SOFTWARE? OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE BETWEEN BUSINESS STRATEGY, PARTICIPATORY ENGINEERING AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT
Session 5 (Friday 31: 9:00 — 10:30)
Universities and Commodification
Chair: Maarten Menzel, Leiden, The Netherlands
1. Joachim Klerx & Doris Schartinger, Seibersdorf, Austria:
COMMODIFICATION AND THE TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE FROM AUSTRIAN UNIVERSITIES
2. Aaro Tupasela, Helsinki, Finland:
CAN BIOTECHNOLOGY MEET GOVERNMENTAL DEMANDS? RESEARCH GROUPS AS ECONOMIC ENGINES
3. Luísa Oliveira, Lisbon, Portugal:
SCIENCE AND ITS CLIENTS: NEW CRITERIA FOR RANKING UNIVERSITIES?
4. Silvina Santana & H.M.M. Diz, Aveiro, Portugal:
KNOWLEDGE (DE)COMMODIFICATION: FOUNDING IT ON ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING
Session 6 (Saturday 1: 9:00—10:30)
University Industry Links and Commodification
Chair: Franc Mali, Ljubljana, Slovenia
1. Merle Jacob, Gothenburg, Sweden:
PROBLEMS IN THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE PRODUCTION OF MODE 2 KNOWLEDGE: A CASE STUDY
2. Paul A. Martin, Nottingham, United Kingdom:
FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO BIOTECHNOLOGY: THE COMMODIFICATION OF THE EUROPEAN SCIENCE BASE IN HUMAN GENETICS
3. Peter Groenewegen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands:
VIRTUAL SCIENCE?: ICT IN NETWORK FORMATION IN BIOMEDICINE
4. Pirjo Niskanen, VTT, Finland:
WHO GETS WHAT — INSIGHTS INTO THE INDUSTRY-SCIENCE COLLABORATION
5. Antti Pelkonen & Ulla Peltola, Helsinki, Finland:
BALANCING BETWEEN GOVERNMENTAL AND COMMERCIAL INTERESTS: THE CASE OF THE NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AGENCY IN FINLAND
Business Meeting of the Research Network
"Sociology of Science and Technology" (SSTNET)
Friday 31: 13:30—15:00
Abstracts: click on the links above.
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006