Hello All,
Just got the following from the British Sociological Association. What do
list members think? It seems to me on first sight that this could leave
disability research being further reduced to the medical model and welfarist
models and the prospects for emancipatory research based on the social model
look grim but maybe I am being overly pessimistic.
All the best, Sharon Smith
--- On Thu, 30/7/09, Sandra Harris <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Subject: BSA President discusses 'impact'
Date: Thursday, 30 July, 2009, 4:03 PM
BSA President discusses 'impact'
The BSA President, Professor John Brewer, writes about the impact of
sociology in the face of budget cuts and the need to measure economic value,
and calls for your comments. Please read and contribute to the debate for
replying directly to Professor Brewer at [log in to unmask]
There are two related debates occurring now on the impact of humanities and
social science research: one on how to measure the research's impact in the
forthcoming Research Excellence Exercise consultation, and one on the
broader question of how the humanities and social sciences might justify
themselves given the push towards using economic value as the measure of
effectiveness.
The BSA has always been keen to ensure that sociological research in the UK
compares well with that carried out internationally - it is participating at
the heart of the international benchmarking exercise conducted by the ESRC
(see p. 16 of your upcoming members' newsletter, Network) - and that the
productivity of publicly-funded sociological researchers is recognised.
One way of thinking about impact within humanities and social sciences is
through the social and cultural relevance of our research. This might be
measured in the following ways: engagement with civil society; contributions
to what the AHRC calls civic capital; the promotion of teaching and
learning; and contributions to policy and policy consultations.
At a meeting organised by the British Academy and attended by heads of
humanities and social sciences learned societies, the Academy's President,
Baroness O'Neill, warned that we could not ignore the importance of economic
impact, in the light of impending budget cuts and changes in government.
Most humanities and social sciences subjects do not have links with industry
and the market, and knowledge transfer in our areas tends not to be
reflected in spin-off companies and the like. So work on the economic
benefits of housing research, inter-cultural relations, ageing and
population demographics, sport, heritage and so on will have to be stressed,
once we get beyond our resistance to crude notions of utility.
This means that the BSA needs to develop a new narrative about impact that
acknowledges the economic benefits and which also broadens the debate. This
'impact narrative' might make reference to sociology's engagement with the
big issues of future industrial, scientific and economic change -
sustainability, labour migration, climate change, peace processes, the link
between demographic shifts and welfare demands and the like, as well as our
ongoing interest in the cultural and relational dynamics of social life. If
the traditional values by which we judged the purpose of humanities and
social sciences research have been replaced by economic utility, then our
new narrative should not ignore this but should stress that economic,
industrial and scientific change in the future will be mediated by
sociology's capacity to enable society to make sense of it. This means
articulating that the social and cultural relevance of our research on
quality of life issues, climate change or inter-cultural understandings, for
example, has economic utility in addition to its other benefits.
We can develop such a narrative - the issue is what we do with it. Three
questions seem important: with whom do we speak, to whom do we speak, and
how do we say it?
The BSA cannot speak alone. The Research Councils, the British Academy, the
Academy of Social Sciences and Universities UK are some of the bodies that
are beginning to develop a narrative about impact to which the BSA must
contribute. Our comfort zone needs to be stretched further, however.
Baroness O'Neill remarked that humanities and social sciences learned
societies would find it useful to develop alliances with natural and medical
scientists, who also complain at crude notions of economic benefit. The BSA
might need to reconsider its natural allies and find ways of engaging with
strangers. Sociology needs, for example, to link with environmental sciences
to discuss climate change, with medical sciences to debate future welfare
demands and with economics when thinking about sustainability.
Those who we should speak to include politicians of all the leading parties,
government ministers, and their shadows, political advisors, senior civil
servants, and so on. Our narrative needs to be heard at the centre of power.
The BSA needs to engage in building relationships for its narrative to be
heard at the top level. This means using hospitality events and lectures at
the London office as means of social networking. It means we must identify
ambassadors with connections at this level who can champion the discipline
and put forward our narrative. The Academy of Social Sciences is a good body
for us to use and the British Academy would benefit from co-ordinating
campaigns and strategy with it. The BSA might develop an Academicians Group
who can take this agenda forward within the Academy of Social Sciences.
Defining impact and its measures seems challenging, and lying behind this
are broader questions about the visibility of sociological research. Who are
the 'publics' that we wish to engage with, what are the forums to use, and
who are the right ambassadors for the different forums?
Email your thoughts to me now: [log in to unmask]
John Brewer
University of Aberdeen
[A version of this article also appears in the Summer 09 issue of Network,
the BSA's newsletter for its members.]
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