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Why New Hybrid Organizations Are Formed: Historical Perspectives on Epistemic and Academic Drift

Kaiserfeld, Thomas LU orcid (2013) In Minerva 51(2). p.171-194
Abstract
Abstract in Undetermined
By comparing three types of hybrid organizations-18th-century scientific academies, 19th-century institutions of higher vocational education, and 20th-century industrial research institutes-it is the purpose here to answer the question of why new hybrid organizations are continuously formed. Traditionally, and often implicitly, it is often assumed that emerging groups of potential knowledge users have their own organizational preferences and demands influencing the setup of new hybrid organizations. By applying the concepts epistemic and academic drift, it will be argued here, however, that internal organizational dynamics are just as important as changing historical conjunctures in the uses of science when... (More)
Abstract in Undetermined
By comparing three types of hybrid organizations-18th-century scientific academies, 19th-century institutions of higher vocational education, and 20th-century industrial research institutes-it is the purpose here to answer the question of why new hybrid organizations are continuously formed. Traditionally, and often implicitly, it is often assumed that emerging groups of potential knowledge users have their own organizational preferences and demands influencing the setup of new hybrid organizations. By applying the concepts epistemic and academic drift, it will be argued here, however, that internal organizational dynamics are just as important as changing historical conjunctures in the uses of science when understanding why new hybrid organizations are formed. Only seldom have older hybrid organizations sought to make themselves relevant to new categories of knowledge users as the original ones have been marginalized. Instead, they have tended to accede to ideals supported by traditional academic organizations with higher status in terms of knowledge management, primarily universities. Through this process, demand has been generated for the founding of new hybrid organizations rather than the transformation of existing ones. Although this study focuses on Swedish cases, it is argued that since Sweden strove consistently to implement existing international policy trends during the periods in question, the observations may be generalized to apply to other national and transnational contexts. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Minerva
volume
51
issue
2
pages
171 - 194
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000319077700003
  • pmid:23687389
  • scopus:84878111864
ISSN
1573-1871
DOI
10.1007/s11024-013-9226-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e11862b6-b79d-41ee-9983-c51da6d55c77 (old id 3736434)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:50:28
date last changed
2022-03-27 19:58:29
@article{e11862b6-b79d-41ee-9983-c51da6d55c77,
  abstract     = {{Abstract in Undetermined<br/>By comparing three types of hybrid organizations-18th-century scientific academies, 19th-century institutions of higher vocational education, and 20th-century industrial research institutes-it is the purpose here to answer the question of why new hybrid organizations are continuously formed. Traditionally, and often implicitly, it is often assumed that emerging groups of potential knowledge users have their own organizational preferences and demands influencing the setup of new hybrid organizations. By applying the concepts epistemic and academic drift, it will be argued here, however, that internal organizational dynamics are just as important as changing historical conjunctures in the uses of science when understanding why new hybrid organizations are formed. Only seldom have older hybrid organizations sought to make themselves relevant to new categories of knowledge users as the original ones have been marginalized. Instead, they have tended to accede to ideals supported by traditional academic organizations with higher status in terms of knowledge management, primarily universities. Through this process, demand has been generated for the founding of new hybrid organizations rather than the transformation of existing ones. Although this study focuses on Swedish cases, it is argued that since Sweden strove consistently to implement existing international policy trends during the periods in question, the observations may be generalized to apply to other national and transnational contexts.}},
  author       = {{Kaiserfeld, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{1573-1871}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{171--194}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Minerva}},
  title        = {{Why New Hybrid Organizations Are Formed: Historical Perspectives on Epistemic and Academic Drift}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11024-013-9226-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11024-013-9226-x}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}