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Political Epistemology : Knowledge and Advocacy in Trade Union Research

Edling, Staffan LU (2024) 80.
Abstract
Political organisations routinely, and increasingly, employ researchers to make knowledge claims and suggest political action. Swedish blue-collar trade union organisation LO has done so since the 1930s, employing economists and other social scientists drawing in part on methods of analysis and presentation similar to academic social science, and in part on interaction with spokespersons for trade union members to produce texts and other output which they treat as both knowledge-production and advocacy. Starting from assumptions and perspectives from the sociology of science and science and technology studies, I analyse the activities of political researchers in the organisation of LO, drawing on interviews, participant observation and... (More)
Political organisations routinely, and increasingly, employ researchers to make knowledge claims and suggest political action. Swedish blue-collar trade union organisation LO has done so since the 1930s, employing economists and other social scientists drawing in part on methods of analysis and presentation similar to academic social science, and in part on interaction with spokespersons for trade union members to produce texts and other output which they treat as both knowledge-production and advocacy. Starting from assumptions and perspectives from the sociology of science and science and technology studies, I analyse the activities of political researchers in the organisation of LO, drawing on interviews, participant observation and printed documents. Special attention is paid to the interaction between political and epistemic phenomena in their research, and the situational boundaries drawn between the two, from three different angles: in the production of different kinds of linguistic statements, in LO researchers' claims to speak for union members, and in how LO research relates to academia, politics, and other sites as social worlds external to themselves. Through these different analytical angles, I argue that political research at LO involves the interaction between the political representation of union members on the one hand, and the epistemic representation of reality on the other, and occasionally the dissolution of the boundary between the two. As the distinction between speaking for union members and speaking for reality is contextually bound, and at times dissolved, questions of causality between politics and knowledge can only be answered situationally, challenging common assumptions of political research as either value-free or reducible to political strategy. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Politiska organisationer anställer ofta, och i allt högre utsträckning, utredare och andra kunskapsarbetare för att producera kunskap och politiska förslag, och den svenska fackliga centralorganisationen LO har sedan 1930-talet anställt nationalekonomer och andra samhällsvetare. Genom analys- och presentationsmetoder som liknar den akademiska samhällsvetenskapen, och genom interaktion med talespersoner för fackföreningsmedlemmar, producerar dessa utredare rapporter och andra texter som innehåller kunskapspåståenden och politiska förslag, och som fungerar som påverkansarbete. Med utgångspunkt från perspektiv inom vetenskapssociologi och teknik- och vetenskapsstudier har jag studerat LO:s utredningsverksamhet genom intervjuer, deltagande... (More)
Politiska organisationer anställer ofta, och i allt högre utsträckning, utredare och andra kunskapsarbetare för att producera kunskap och politiska förslag, och den svenska fackliga centralorganisationen LO har sedan 1930-talet anställt nationalekonomer och andra samhällsvetare. Genom analys- och presentationsmetoder som liknar den akademiska samhällsvetenskapen, och genom interaktion med talespersoner för fackföreningsmedlemmar, producerar dessa utredare rapporter och andra texter som innehåller kunskapspåståenden och politiska förslag, och som fungerar som påverkansarbete. Med utgångspunkt från perspektiv inom vetenskapssociologi och teknik- och vetenskapsstudier har jag studerat LO:s utredningsverksamhet genom intervjuer, deltagande observation och dokumentanalys. Jag ägnar särskild uppmärksamhet åt samspelet mellan politiska och epistemiska fenomen i deras utredningsarbete, och åt de situationella gränser som dras mellan dessa två kategorier. Jag analyserar LO:s utredningsarbete genom att följa tre olika analytiska spår: produktionen av olika typer av språkliga yttranden i LO-rapporter, LO-utredarnas anspråk på att tala för LO-förbundens medlemmar, och hur LO-utredningarna förhåller sig till akademi, politik och andra platser förstådda som för utredarna externa sociala världar. Genom dessa analytiska spår argumenterar jag för att politisk kunskapsproduktion inom LO bygger på ett samspel mellan å ena sidan epistemisk representationen av verkligheten, och å andra sidan politisk representation av LO-förbundens medlemmar, och samtidigt som gränser i vissa situationer dras mellan dessa två typer av representation så löses dessa gränser i andra situationer upp. Eftersom distinktionen mellan att tala för medlemmarna och representera verkligheten därmed är situationsbunden, och stundtals upplöst, kan frågor om orsakssamband mellan politik och kunskap i utredningarna som bäst besvaras lokalt och i specifika situationer, vilket utmanar vanliga antaganden om politisk kunskapsproduktion som antingen värderingsfri eller reducerbar till politiskt påverkansarbete. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Sonneryd, Linda, University of Örebro
organization
alternative title
Politisk epistemologi : Kunskap och påverkan i fackliga utredning
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
fackförbund, fackliga utredningar, LO, politisk epistemologi, expertis, trade unions, policy research, political epistemology, expertise, LO
volume
80
pages
205 pages
publisher
Lunds universitet
defense location
Edens hörsal, Allhelgona kyrkogata 14, Lund
defense date
2024-12-06 10:00:00
ISSN
1102–4712
1102–4712
ISBN
978-91-8104-249-8
978-91-8104-250-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
af4a1abb-7f55-40c7-ac9a-6b727fc39b8b
date added to LUP
2024-10-22 11:06:37
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:06:45
@phdthesis{af4a1abb-7f55-40c7-ac9a-6b727fc39b8b,
  abstract     = {{Political organisations routinely, and increasingly, employ researchers to make knowledge claims and suggest political action. Swedish blue-collar trade union organisation LO has done so since the 1930s, employing economists and other social scientists drawing in part on methods of analysis and presentation similar to academic social science, and in part on interaction with spokespersons for trade union members to produce texts and other output which they treat as both knowledge-production and advocacy. Starting from assumptions and perspectives from the sociology of science and science and technology studies, I analyse the activities of political researchers in the organisation of LO, drawing on interviews, participant observation and printed documents. Special attention is paid to the interaction between political and epistemic phenomena in their research, and the situational boundaries drawn between the two, from three different angles: in the production of different kinds of linguistic statements, in LO researchers' claims to speak for union members, and in how LO research relates to academia, politics, and other sites as social worlds external to themselves. Through these different analytical angles, I argue that political research at LO involves the interaction between the political representation of union members on the one hand, and the epistemic representation of reality on the other, and occasionally the dissolution of the boundary between the two. As the distinction between speaking for union members and speaking for reality is contextually bound, and at times dissolved, questions of causality between politics and knowledge can only be answered situationally, challenging common assumptions of political research as either value-free or reducible to political strategy.}},
  author       = {{Edling, Staffan}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8104-249-8}},
  issn         = {{1102–4712}},
  keywords     = {{fackförbund; fackliga utredningar; LO; politisk epistemologi; expertis; trade unions; policy research; political epistemology; expertise; LO}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lunds universitet}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Political Epistemology : Knowledge and Advocacy in Trade Union Research}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/198045420/Avhandling_Staffan_Edling.pdf}},
  volume       = {{80}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}