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On the limits of academic freedom

Researchers often struggle with how they are categorized by others

Researchers should be free from constraints that prevent them from the pursuit of scientific truth ai??i?? this is an idea that universities all over the world like to pride themselves on. However, even the purest, most basic research is subject to pressures which are never exclusively scientific. Researchers are subject to a number of social constraints as they compete for resources, pursue careers, and network with others. In a nutshell, research is a social practice ai??i?? a practice which does not only turn around ideas.
In my own career, I am often reminded of the social aspects of research when I interact with other researchers:I find it painful to be defined by a limited set of academic career parameters!

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Understanding Academic Worlds ai??i?? Getting Started

Sixian is a PhD student member and Ronny is project manager of the DISCONEX team. In this blog post, they discuss why the blog is titled ai???Academic Wor(l)dsai??i?? and what they think the DISCONEX project tries to do. In subsequent blog posts, you would hear more voices from the team discussing other aspects of the project.

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Welcome to Academic Wor(l)ds!

Academic Wor(l)ds is a research journal of the DISCONEX project, which investigates how researchers do research.

DISCONEX contributes to the emerging field of Social Sciences and Humanities Studies (SSHS) as well as to the transdisciplinary field of Discourse Studies. The project compares academic practices and cultures of SSH research in France, Germany, the UK and the US, particularly in two fields with distinct knowledge traditions and institutional cultures: linguistics and sociology. We analyse the discursive practices taking place in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH).

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