Multiple and Overlapping Scientific Communities: Internal Structuration and Knowledge Diffusion in International Relations
The aim of this project is to ascertain how the social structuration of the multiple and overlapping International Relations (IR) communities affects the diffusion of knowledge in the field of IR. In particular, we want to analyze how the various communities relate to each other and to identify the mechanisms – e.g. socialization, competition, functional and normative emulation – by which knowledge diffuses within and between them. The project is located at the intersection of International Relations and Sociology of Science. It takes its theoretical departures from Social Identity Theories (SIT), on the one hand, and diffusion approaches, on the other. In cooperation with American, Brazilian, and Japanese partners, we will conduct studies of various national, regional as well as substantive (theory, epistemology, methods, issue areas) IR communities and their role in the global production of knowledge. The project uses a multi-method design integrating data from multinational surveys of IR scholars, journal content and citation analyses, as well as from CV analyses and semi-structured interviews. For the first time, the project goes beyond Western-based IR scholars and journals and beyond data from the Web of Science to systematically incorporate “non-Western” scholarship and their (non-) integration in the global scholarly communities.
Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación
Edificio 8E, Acceso J, Planta 4ª (Sala Aprende. Cubo Rojo)
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia | Camino de Vera s/n
Jochen Gläser is a sociologist of science with an expertise on structuration of scientific communities and the governance of research, for example on research evaluation and funding. He has published widely on these issues. See
http://www.tu-berlin.de/ztg/menue/team/mitarbeiterinnen/glaeser_jochen_pd_dr