History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Franc Mali
University of Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Slovenia
e-mail: franc.mali@Uni-Lj.si
Scientists as Main Actors in Commercialization and Capitalization of Scientific Knowledge
Science is increasingly regarded as a commodity the value of which is related in economic terms to the laws of supply and demand, and in political terms to the objectives and needs of governments. In transitional post-socialist societies it is impossible to understand the process of commodification of scientific knowledge without looking at the changing value system of scientists. Here, the combination of different factors, actors and institutions, plays a very important role and the role of scientists as producers of new knowledge is most important. In the paper, the commercialization and capitalization of scientific knowledge will be analysed in the context of the changed values of scientists in transitional post-socialist societies. In this part of the world, the intellectual property right for scientific knowledge was absolutely denied in the past. For that reason, it is interesting to see, whether there are changes in this area in recent times. The paper draws on a longitudinal empirical survey of Slovenian scientists' opinion about different dimensions of research activity which are covered by the concept of the commodification of knowledge. It shows the differences of scientists' opinions through time. Although the emphasis is on the value system of scientists, also other (socio-cultural) factors which promote the commodification of scientific knowledge will be analysed. The possible threats of these new processes for the value system of the scientific community will also be considered.
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006