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Science of Science and Reflexivity

01 Jan 2004-
TL;DR: Bourdieu's "Science of Science and Reflexivity" as mentioned in this paper argues that science is in danger of becoming a handmaiden to biotechnology, medicine, genetic engineering, and military research that it risks falling under the control of industrial corporations that seek to exploit it for monopolies and profit.
Abstract: Over the last four decades, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu produced one of the most imaginative and subtle bodies of social theory of the postwar era. When he died in 2002, he was considered to be a thinker on a par with Foucault, Barthes, and Lacan a public intellectual as influential to his generation as Sartre was to his. "Science of Science and Reflexivity" will be welcomed as a companion volume to Bourdieu's now seminal "An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology." In this posthumous work, Bourdieu declares that science is in danger of becoming a handmaiden to biotechnology, medicine, genetic engineering, and military research that it risks falling under the control of industrial corporations that seek to exploit it for monopolies and profit. Science thus endangered can become detrimental to mankind. The line between pure and applied science, therefore, must be subjected to intense theoretical scrutiny. Bourdieu's goals in "Science of Science and Reflexivity" are to identify the social conditions in which science develops in order to reclaim its objectivity and to rescue it from relativism and the forces that might exploit it. In the grand tradition of scientific reflections on science, Bourdieu provides a sociological analysis of the discipline as something capable of producing transhistorical truths; he presents an incisive critique of the main currents in the study of science throughout the past half century; and he offers a spirited defense of science against encroaching political and economic forces. A masterful summation of the principles underlying Bourdieu's oeuvre and a memoir of his own scientific journey, "Science of Science and Reflexivity" is a capstone to one of the most important and prodigious careers in the field of sociology."
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Dissertation
01 Feb 2011
TL;DR: The man-boy sexual encounter or male-child sexual abuse (MCSA) is a widespread, persistent social practice as mentioned in this paper, and it has been the topic of sustained research and theory for several decades (e.g. Finkelhor, 1984) and there is now a considerable literature on the impact of such activity on male victims.
Abstract: The man-boy sexual encounter, or male-child sexual abuse (MCSA), is a widespread, persistent social practice. The causes, or aetiology, of sex offending against children has been the topic of sustained research and theory for several decades (e.g. Finkelhor, 1984) and there is now a considerable literature on the impact of such activity on male victims (Spiegel, 2003). Recently, some research has enabled the stories of abused males to be considered in detail (e.g. Hunter, 1990a) and some social theorists have emphasized the importance of this endeavour (Plummer, 1995). Sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse (CSA) is a relatively recent addition to the study of sport (Brackenridge, 1994) and so far there has been no sustained attention given to the sexual subjection of the male child. This thesis develops the literature on sexual exploitation in sport by examining the experiences of men sexually abused in the context of sport. Feminist research has identified the gendered nature of sex offending and the role of patriarchy in this practice (e.g. Kelly, 1988) and similar, contextualised arguments have been made by scholars of sport (Brackenridge, 2001). However, explanatory accounts of CSA are deeply contested and psychological perspectives dominate the debate (Ward et al., 2006). Therefore, in considering MCSA in sport, a fundamental issue is how the sexual abuse of children is to be understood. This thesis draws upon the work of social theorist, Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), and considers MCSA in sport through his theoretical framework. Utilising this framework, I develop an account of the relation between organised male-sport and the sexual abuse of boys where the actions of social agents are deeply embedded within the socio-cultural context. Ultimately, I offer a radical critique of sport, and the man-boy relation that lies at its heart.

6 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...Attempting to ‘objectivate’ areas of our unconscious that may obstruct our understanding of the issue we are studying means acknowledging our own position and interests in the field(s) we are engaged with (Bourdieu, 2004: 92)....

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  • ...Unlike other major social theorists that have been utilised within the study of sport (see Giulianotti, 2004, 2005) Bourdieu wrote specifically on sport14 and explicitly designated sport as a ‘relatively autonomous’ cultural field (e.g. Bourdieu, 2004)....

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  • ...He argues, then, that researchers have to convert reflexivity into a disposition ‘a reflexivity reflex’ (Bourdieu, 2004: 89) if they are to avoid simply reproducing the status 7 quo and commonsense constructions....

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  • ...…limited to a complacent looking-back by the researcher on his own experience, but also because it is its own end and leads to no practical effect’ (Bourdieu, 2004: 89).1 Whilst I do not want to labour the point, it seems important to make some early comments in this regard, and to state at the…...

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  • ...Thus, he argues ‘reflexive analysis must consider successively, position in the social space, position in the field and position in the scholastic universe’ (Bourdieu, 2004: 94)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored family relationship experiences of first-generation college students (FGCS) as they transition to and persist through college and found that the transition was not easy for first generation college students.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore family relationship experiences of first-generation college students (FGCS) as they transition to and persist through college. The sample includes eight undergr...

6 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...What they found in their qualitative interviews was that FGCS reported feeling like they exist in what French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (2004) calls a cleft habitus, an in-between space where they struggled to navigate either realm with confidence....

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  • ...The cleft habitus of Bourdieu (2004) and Lee and Kramer (2013) is not the first or only concept that describes this in-between space; first-generation students have described themselves as “straddling” the worlds of their working-class families and the middle-class culture of higher education…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the theoretical background, analytical concept, and brief outline of the research design of a project about the governance of scientific research in a mediatized governance constellation.
Abstract: This paper presents the theoretical background, analytical concept, and brief outline of the research design of a project about the governance of scientific research in a mediatized governance constellation. Our study focuses on the role of mass communication in the process of science policy regarding scientific research in Germany. The guiding research questions are: How do politics and sciences observe each other via mass media? How do such observations influence decision-making? And what differences exist concerning diverse scientific traditions (i.e. humanities/social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, engineering sciences)? Those questions will be addressed considering a theoretical perspective that conceives “governance” as an inter-systemic relationship, which can be explained as the outcome of dynamics between individual and collective actors and their actions on the one hand and social structures on the other and that further integrates the concept of “mediatization”. Based on this, we deduce an analytical concept for empirical research and briefly outline our research design.

6 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...From the socialization of young scientists to decisions over funding, the essential processes take place within disciplinary boundaries (cf. Bourdieu, 2004)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The explanatory value of the concept of celebrity capital in helping us to grasp the fate of celebrities and the cultural objects they produce when they move across to other countries is explored in this article.
Abstract: This article probes the explanatory value of the concept of celebrity capital in helping us to grasp the fate of celebrities and the cultural objects they produce when they move across to other fie...

6 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...critiques, Highmore (2016) makes the contentious but perceptive argument that Bourdieu is not actually concerned with the aesthetic dimension of taste at all; he ‘was not actually interested in taste and rarely addressed its particular qualities in his work’ (p. 547). This article contributes to debates by focusing on the field-specific aesthetic criteria that come into play when celebrities cross boundaries into other cultural fields. The concept of field allows us to envisage numerous overlapping fields, each with different stakes, rules and specific criteria of judgement. Analysing field-specific aesthetic criteria enables us to see why some celebrity boundary crossings succeed, while others fail. Celebrity capital enables a high degree of field mobility but does not necessarily convert into artistic success. Judgements about the worth of things are fiercely contested within the various arenas that make up our cultural life and far from being a relativist free-for-all there are clear rules according to which merit is bestowed. Bourdieu (1993, 1996) alludes to these criteria but they are very much in the background of his analysis. As Austin Harrington (2004) observes, ‘Bourdieu’s analytical tendencies ....

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  • ...For example, Bourdieu (2003) writes that it took more than five centuries for the conditions of the cultural field to be ready for a Picasso to come to the fore....

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  • ...Institutional cultural capital is acquired when institutions bestow recognition on the cultural capital held by a particular individual (Bourdieu, 1986). Prestigious institutions, in doing so, demonstrate ‘the power to show forth and secure belief, or, in a word, to impose recognition’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 51). Before making M&A, Dylan had significant institutional cultural capital and his possession of this form of capital has continued to grow. Within the field in which he is most prominent – popular music – he has received 27 nominations and he has won 12 Grammy Awards. His successes include Album of the Year, with Time out of Mind (1998), Best Contemporary Folk Album, with Love and Theft (2002), and Best Historical Album, with The Bootleg Series Volume 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. He has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Outside the field of popular music and highlighting the wider cultural significance of his work, Dylan has been awarded numerous honours including a Tom Paine Award (1963), an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Princeton University (1970) and St. Andrews University (2004), Commandeur des Artes et des Lettres (1990), Kennedy Center Honors (1997), Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards (2008), National Medal of Arts (2009) and Officier de la Legion d’honneur (2013)....

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  • ...(p. 40) According to Bourdieu (1993, 1996, 1998, 2004), society is made up of a number of overlapping fields and subfields, each of which has its own laws, which distinguish it from the wider field of power....

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  • ...Institutional cultural capital is acquired when institutions bestow recognition on the cultural capital held by a particular individual (Bourdieu, 1986). Prestigious institutions, in doing so, demonstrate ‘the power to show forth and secure belief, or, in a word, to impose recognition’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 51). Before making M&A, Dylan had significant institutional cultural capital and his possession of this form of capital has continued to grow. Within the field in which he is most prominent – popular music – he has received 27 nominations and he has won 12 Grammy Awards. His successes include Album of the Year, with Time out of Mind (1998), Best Contemporary Folk Album, with Love and Theft (2002), and Best Historical Album, with The Bootleg Series Volume 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. He has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Outside the field of popular music and highlighting the wider cultural significance of his work, Dylan has been awarded numerous honours including a Tom Paine Award (1963), an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Princeton University (1970) and St....

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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The HIVe disrupts and queers biomedical approaches by building an accessible and dynamic open source, universal access research community engaged in reflexive performativity to improve the health and human rights of marginalised communities disproportionately at risk of HIV and AIDS.
Abstract: Networked and digital technologies mediate the sexual behaviours and practices of many gay men, other men that have sex with men (MSM) and transgenders (TG). These changes challenge the effectiveness of biomedical HIV and AIDS research, prevention and care. Driven by the normative positivist philosophy of science, these approaches—while paramount to fighting the epidemic—have neglected to rethink their ontological and epistemological assumptions when confronting the cognitive, social, cultural, material and technological drivers of HIV. The HIVe is a dynamic model that stimulates ongoing systems-wide strategic collaboration among HIV research, policy and practice sectors to share effective digital community-based and led HIV prevention and care interventions across gay men, other MSM and TG communities. ‘Building the HIVe’ fore fronts community-based and led social sciences HIV and AIDS research, prevention and care. The model addresses digitally mediated and driven sexual behaviours to reduce vulnerabilities, construct and exchange social, cultural, economic and symbolic capitals, and challenge stigma and discrimination with the aim of stopping new HIV infections. The HIVe disrupts and queers biomedical approaches by building an accessible and dynamic open source, universal access research community engaged in reflexive performativity to improve the health and human rights of marginalised communities disproportionately at risk of HIV and AIDS.

6 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...(Bourdieu, 2004, p. 80) Ubiquitous networked and digital technologies mediate the sexual practices of many gay men, MSM and TGs (Elford et al., 2001; Bolding et al., 2005, 2007; Liau et al.,2006)....

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  • ...Such ‘convenient’ policy and practice framings that do not challenge Kantian assumptions of universal conditions for the construction of science (Bourdieu, 2004) mythologise socially and discursively constructed Foucauldian ‘regimes of truth’ as objective truths of ‘what works’ and ‘what is out…...

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  • ...This is because the HIVe framework for producing ‘credible knowledge’ (Epstein, 1995) problematises and transcends the essentialist assumptions of positivist biomedical and social sciences research that do not take themselves as objects of inquiry (Bourdieu, 2004)....

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