(1544)ARE THERE OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO MERTON’S SCIENCE MODEL? NEW INSIGHTS TO RESEARCH TAKING PLACE OUTSIDE “MAINSTREAM”

摘要

The arrival and consolidation of new information and communication technologies have open new opportunities for scientific development of Third World countries. New means for information interchange open unexpected opportunities for collaboration between the countries that “have” and those that “have not”, between their respective scientists, and between scientists and other social actors in a myriad of new fora outside the traditional channels of academic exchange. New “invisible colleges” [1], connecting scientists both North-South and South-South emerge. The current trends point out to the production of knowledge linked to fulfill the needs of a global market, somehow described by Gibbons and associates as a new mode of knowledge production called ‘Mode 2’ [2],[3] & [4]. It claims to be “more socially accountable” than the traditional way of doing science, identified as ‘Mode 1’. However, in the past years new forms of doing research have appeared in some countries that do not correspond to these trends. Although they share some characteristics of ‘Mode 2’, they differ drastically in the sense that they are actually more socially accountable. These forms respond to current local or regional problems and opportunities, dissociated with global markets, hence making science more socially responsible. A new model of learning gearing to research in a Latin American country is described. The Center for Innovation and Educational Development [5] in Mexico, features learning by problem-solving, individual and group study, individualized study plans, and intensive use of Internet, in an environment with no physical installations nor laboratories. Once the students identify their local or regional research problem they wish to work on, they try to contact leading scientists, with specific requests, using the information and communication technologies. The interaction with these top scientists often leads to collaboration and participation in international conferences, gradually introducing them into mainstream science. By the time students defend their doctoral dissertations their involvement in international scientific networks is a reality. This model contrasts with the formal description of the ethos of science put forward by Robert K. Merton in 1942. The conclusion is that some segments of society, in congruence with ‘the spirit of Budapest’ [6], [7] & [8], are concerned with local or regional problems and opportunities that can be solved with scientific research. India, having similar characteristics in their needs for research geared to solve local/regional problems as Mexico, is a target to seek similar academic enterprises as the one presented here. These projects are putting in practice alternative models of doing science with emphasis in social accountability, opposite to “Mode 2” tendency. This type of knowledge generation is called ‘Mode 3’ [9]. Could the same phenomenon be found in countries other than Mexico? Efforts are being made to locate similar phenomena in regions far apart like Russia and St. Petersburg in particular.