Globalization and scientific labour: patterns in a life-history study of intellectual workers in the periphery

Abstract

Sociological theories about intellectuals need to be rethought in relation to globalization. The interplay between intellectual work and globalization is studied via life-history interviews with 18 Australians involved in natural science. Centre–periphery relations are important in their careers, an interactive process not a simple domination. Quasi-globalization rather than full globalization is the main pattern of internationalization of science. The commodification of knowledge, now an important force in natural-science research, follows similar spatial patterns. Personal and institutional connections remain important vehicles of international connection, alongside traditional formats such as journal publication; electronic communications are emerging as an associated pattern rather than as an alternative. Participating from the periphery is structured by metropolitan predominance, with regional satellite centres complicating the pattern. Participation in elite world networks is possible, though tending to reinforce centre–periphery patterns; which in turn create problems for the reproduction of the scientific workforce in the periphery under a neoliberal political regime.