DATE OF WORKSHOP: 10-12 October 2016
PLACE: Max Planck Institute for the History of
Science, Berlin
ORGANIZER/HOST: Research program „History of
the Max Planck Society” (GMPG)
CONTACT: Jaromir Balcar, Florian Schmaltz,
Alexander von Schwerin
Deadline for abstracts (250-300 words): 28
February 2016
The
relationship of science and technology – often seen as the
relation of basic and applied research – is a constant theme
in science and technology studies. Especially the
commercialization of scientific research has steadily gained
attention in the last years. Our workshop will focus on
scientific institutions such as universities, independent
research institutes and other national and international
scientific organizations, and the roles they play in the
commercialization of science.
The
contributions to the workshop should examine the process of
commercialization in science with a special focus on
scientific institutions and their internal and external
relationships in the second half of the 20th
century. Papers applying a comparative approach are especially
welcome. Proposals are invited from all relevant perspectives:
science studies; history of science, medicine and technology;
cultural studies; business history; economic history; and the
history of law.
Definition and Agenda
According
to our definition, commercialization of science is the
utilization of scientific work and knowledge for commercial
purposes in various ways, including ‘feedback reactions’ of
commercialization processes on scientific research. From a
historical perspective the commercialization of science is not
new. Various forms of cooperation between industry and
academic science reach far back in time, though a consensus
has been reached that it has been deeply rearranged in the
last few decades. Foremost, commercial criteria now have a
stronger influence on scientific research than ever before.
Some recognize a profound transformation of academic
traditions in these developments (truth oriented vs.
application; concept of mode1/mode2), others highlight the
increased importance of universities for economic development
in relationship with the industry and the state (concept of
the triple helix). As an alternative it has been suggested to
analyze the different commercialization
regimes of science (Mirowski and Sent 2008).
Our
starting point is that the ways and methods of
commercialization have been diverse. Processes of
commercialization affect institutions in many ways and
on various levels, comprise different dimensions and take
place in specific social contexts. The Cold War, the
competition of political systems, economic crises,
privatization, deregulation, and globalization come to mind.
We see the capitalist economic system and the transformations
of capitalist societies as an overarching point of reference.
However, we include processes of commercialization in
non-capitalist social systems. Our goal is to contribute to
the understanding of the temporally, regionally and nationally
different mechanisms of commercialization and their political
economies in a historical context.
Themes and research questions
The
workshop covers a broad spectrum of aspects of
commercialization in the second half of the 20th
century with an emphasis on national and international
comparisons. We welcome contributions that focus on scientific
institutions and their governance, intellectual property law,
financing and economics, the practices and effects of
commercialization, science policy, and discourse. Next to the
relatively often studied theme of patent protection, themes
may include the licensing of research instruments, terms and
clauses in employment contracts, publishing clauses, contract
research, cooperation with industries, convergence of civil
and military research contexts (dual-use-problem),
outsourcing, start-ups and spin-offs, the architecture and
spaces of technology transfer, and the politicization and the
(public) debates of problems surrounding commercialization.
Overarching
questions are: What is the object of commercialization at
universities, independent research institutions and other
scientific organizations (including foundations, societies and
associations)? When and how has the concept of
commercialization changed? What where the driving forces of
commercialization inside and outside of scientific
institutions? In which ways did particular institutions change
due to commercialization processes? To what extent did the
‘market’ influence the production methods of scientific
knowledge and how did market forces change scientific
practice? To what extent did commercial viability become a
criterion of scientific innovation? Who where the significant
actors in the research institutions, and how did they act in a
national and international context? Finally, we are interested
in the relationship of commercialization and knowledge and
technology transfer, which has been a dominating concept of
innovation studies and science policy studies in the last
years.