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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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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider participation in post-compulsory mathematics education (Advanced or A-level) which is currently exercising education policy-makers in England and elsewhere.
Abstract: This article considers participation in post-compulsory mathematics education (Advanced or A-level) which is currently exercising education policy-makers in England and elsewhere. I argue that the ...

23 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The work of the French anthropologist-cum-philosopher Bruno Latour has had little noticeable effect within development studies, including those sub-fields where it might be reasonable to expect affinity as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The work of the French anthropologist-cum-philosopher Bruno Latour has influenced a wide variety of disciplines in the past three decades. Yet, Latour has had little noticeable effect within development studies, including those sub-fields where it might be reasonable to expect affinity, such as the anthropology of development. The first half of this article outlines some core aspects of Latour’s oeuvre as they relate to development and anthropology, particularly focusing on the post-development critique. Latour’s approach to constructivism and translation, his analytical commitment to ‘keeping the social flat’ and his distribution of agency offer novel ways of maintaining some of the strengths of post-development without falling prey to some of its weaknesses. The second half of the article explores the potential for a Latour-inspired theory of development that may provide fruitful avenues for scholarship and practice beyond post-development, emphasizing materialism, relationality and hybridity.

23 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...Science is not a distinct realm from politics (cf. Bourdieu, 2004), technology is not unique from society (Bijker et al., 1987), and any glance at a newspaper article on a climate change negotiation or genetically modified crop protests confirms it (Latour, 1991a)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Surveys from a random sample of full-time university professors at all 95 Canadian universities affiliated with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada to analyze the ways in which socioeconomic background impacts experiences within university and graduate school indicate that several measures of socioeconomic background are indeed significant predictors of this experience.
Abstract: Numerous essays exist on the lived experiences of academics from working-class or poverty-class origins. Yet, to date, there exists no systematic analysis of the class origins of university faculty members. This study utilizes surveys from a random sample of full-time university professors at all 95 Canadian universities affiliated with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) to analyze the ways in which socioeconomic background impacts experiences within university and graduate school. Findings indicate that several measures of socioeconomic background are indeed significant predictors of this experience. Qualitative data reveal that working-class faculty members are hyper-aware of the ways in which their class backgrounds affected their educational trajectories; while conversely, academics from middle-class backgrounds were also reflective about the ways in which they were privileged. The paper concludes with implications for developing public policy that shifts focus away from apolitical discussions of diversity, toward promoting inclusivity for those from working-class or lower-income backgrounds. Il existe de nombreux travaux concernant les experiences vecues par des academiques qui font parties de differentes classes sociales, particulierement les classes ouvrieres. Par contre, jusqu’a date, il n'existe aucune analyse systematique concernant les classes d'origines des membres du corps professoral qui travaillent aux universites. Cette etude utilise des enquetes qui ont ete obtenues avec un echantillon aleatoire de professeurs qui travaillent a temps plein aux 95 universites Canadiennes affiliees avec “L'association des Universites et Colleges du Canada” (AUCC). Cette etude analyse les facons que le statut socio-economique de la famille affecte les experiences a l'universite et aux etudes superieures. Les resultats quantitatifs demontrent que plusieurs mesures de statut socio-economique predisent ces experiences. En plus, les resultats qualitatifs demontrent que les membres du corps professoral qui viennent la classe ouvriere sont tres conscients des facons que leur statut socio-economique affecte leurs trajectoires academiques. Par contre, les membres du corps professoral qui viennent la classe moyenne sont aussi conscients et meme reflechissant des facons qu'ils sont privilegies a cause de leur statut socio-economique. Les resultats indiquent la necessite de developper des politiques publiques qui detourne l'attention et les discussions apolitiques sur la diversite, aux discussions sur les facons de promouvoir, aux universites, l'inclusion de ceux qui viennent des milieux socio-economiques inferieurs et defavorises.

23 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...In the end, though, many working-class students develop a “cleft habitus” (Bourdieu 2004:111), or a divided consciousness, that keeps students from feeling at home in their university surroundings as well as in their communities of origin, where they experience numerous “micro-aggressions” (Lee and…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that the renal patients at the clinic become emotionally invested in the fluctuations in the numbers on their blood work, which complicate the notion of “living well” with CKD.
Abstract: Individuals living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) must be mindful of their diet and exercise, take multiple medications, and deal with other compounding illnesses. We observed renal patients’ encounters with health professionals at a renal clinic for tensions and gaps in patients’ and health professionals’ understandings of “living well” with CKD. We found that the renal patients at the clinic become emotionally invested in the fluctuations in the numbers on their blood work. Narrative practices of health professionals greatly affect how patients emotionally deal with the possibility of dialysis, transplant, death, or aging. Expectations to “live well” can become a moral burden to be a “good” patient. The gaps between the priorities of patients, their caregivers, and health professionals complicate the notion of “living well” with CKD. Trust, rapport and the practice of listening appear to have the greatest impact in addressing these gaps.

23 citations


Cites background from "Science of Science and Reflexivity"

  • ...Because scientists so thoroughly embody the rules and structures of the scientific field, Bourdieu states that a “scientist is the scientific field made flesh” (Bourdieu, 2004, p. 41)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings from the present study supported an existing model of moral injury, while extending it in several important ways, including directly exploring the context surrounding the morally injurious event, examining the veterans’ moral appraisals, and helping them assume appropriate responsibility for their actions to reduce excessive self-blame.
Abstract: Author(s): Held, Philip; Klassen, Brian J; Hall, Joanne M; Friese, Tanya R; Bertsch-Gout, Marcel M; Zalta, Alyson K; Pollack, Mark H | Abstract: ObjectiveMoral injury is a nascent construct intended to capture reactions to events that violate deeply held beliefs and moral values. Although a model of moral injury has been proposed, many of the theoretical propositions of this model have yet to be systematically studied.MethodWe conducted semistructured interviews with eight veterans who reported experiencing morally injurious events during war zone deployments.ResultsUsing narrative thematic analysis, five main themes and associated subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes capture the timing of the event, contextual factors that affected the decision-making process during the morally injurious event, reactions to the moral injurious event, search for purpose and meaning, and opening up.ConclusionThe findings from the present study supported an existing model of moral injury, while extending it in several important ways. Preliminary clinical recommendations and directions for future research are discussed based on the study findings. These include directly exploring the context surrounding the morally injurious event, examining the veterans' moral appraisals, and helping them assume appropriate responsibility for their actions to reduce excessive self-blame. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

23 citations