Part III

Research Politics

Not only Donna Haraway but scholars like Sheila Jasanoff, Sharon Traweek and Elisabeth Gulbrandsen are convincing in their arguments about research as reality producing / world producing activities. Science is (co-)creating society and is thus political. That is why I am emphasizing also researchers to bother about the political dimensions of their research. As a scientist I have to see myself as producer of realities for myself and for all others in society. If you find this statement too abstract just think of a medical or ICT researcher. Explicit mode 1⁷³ researchers are often provoked by this approach denying the dominant epistemology of neutrality and objectivity as well as discarding the God trick⁷⁴ (Haraway 1991 p.189).

Wendy Hollway (1989) states that science as we know it could only become dominant because it was preferred, and being preferred means strong involvement in political issues.

Before going deeper into this co-constructions of research and politics, the following three chapters concerns a quite unique research political situation in Sweden concerning support to interdisciplinary and feminist research.