Varieties of Science: Heterogeneity of Scientific Practices Revisited – Stefan Böschen (KHK c:o/re director)

Abstract:

Science is an endeavor with an eventful history. In the present, multifaceted and intertwined dynamics of reconfiguring social, political, economic, and ecological orders are giving rise to new arrangements of cooperation and demarcation. Science has found itself caught in the midst of this maelstrom. On the one hand, science is an endeavor of global cooperation. There is a wealth of international research networks, as well as transnational funding from the European Commission, for example. On the other hand, science serves national interests. There are homogenizing dynamics (such as international rankings, research infrastructures, or innovation models like the MIT model) as well as evidence of a striking heterogeneity of systems of knowledge production that continue to persist. Therefore, it is worthwhile to take an analytical look at these dynamics of homogenization and heterogenization, in an effort to contextualize them by highlighting varieties of scientific practice. In this lecture, the contours of a research program on “Varieties of Science” will be outlined. To this end, the analogy to the “Varieties of Capitalism” approach will be systematically explored and critically discussed. In this way, the significance of both cultural as well as institutional contextual conditions of knowledge production will be particularly emphasized.

This event is part of our winter term 2026/27 Lecture Series Varieties of Science: On Cultural-Institutional Preconditions of Producing Scholarly Knowledge.

If you would like to attend, please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.