Europe's New Scientific Elite: Social Mechanisms of Science in the European Research Area

Winner of the Harald Kaufmann Prize for Senior Researchers, 2018 This book examines the question of whether the process of European integration in research funding has led to new forms of oligarchization and elite formation in the European Research Area. Based on a study of the European Research Council (ERC), the author investigates profound structural change in the social organization of science, as the ERC intervenes in public science systems that, until now, have largely been organized at the national level. Against the background of an emerging new science policy, Europe’s New Scientific Elite explores the social mechanisms that generate, reproduce and modify existing dynamics of stratification and oligarchization in science, shedding light on the strong normative impact of the ERC’s funding on problem-choice in science, the cultural legitimacy and future vision of science, and the building of new research councils of national, European and global scope. A comparative, theory-driven investigation of European research funding, this book will appeal to social scientists with interests in the sociology of knowledge. List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The problem: Establishing ‘excellence’ in socially stratified science Chapter 3. State of research: Controversial ideas on science and public research in a global marketplace Chapter 4. Explaining social change by Europeanization of science: An analytical approach Chapter 5. Methodology: Judging scientific ‘excellence’ Chapter 6. The social structure of the European Research Area: A country comparison Chapter 7. Knowledge of ‘European excellence’: The grant-winning research Chapter 8. The cultural structure of the European Research Area at supranational level: The case of the European Research Council Chapter 9. The sampling: What is a scientific elite? Chapter 10. The grantees: Social choice and mechanisms in elite career trajectories Chapter 11. The panellists: Social choice and mechanisms in grant peer review Chapter 12. Social consequences and conclusions: Cumulative advantage and the case of the European Research Council Appendix Index ' Hoenig's case study is a major contribution to the sociology of science and knowledge. Based on rich empirical material and within an advanced theoretical framework, Hoenig demonstrates the consequences of European science policy, especially with respect to the formation of new scientific elites and t