Living and Working Science Policies: The Case of Latvia

• In Event: Science, Technology and Innovation Policy in non-hegemonic countries: emulation, adaptation, creation

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the recent science policies in Latvia from the perspective of research workers. In recent years, Latvia’s science policies, as well as well as other policies envisioning Latvia’s future path, posit “international cooperation” and “international competitiveness” in science at their core. At the same time, the number of international researchers in the country remains low. This intervention, through an examination of the experiences of international researchers in Latvia and their local counterparts from the perspective of interpretive and infrastructural labor, illuminates as to why that may be the case. It brings to the fore the toll it takes on research workers to fill the gaps and ruptures of science policies and research infrastructures.

In the paper, I rely on the ethnographic data collected in Latvia in 2020 and 2021. During this time, I conducted semi-structured interviews, both in person and online, with researchers and administrators at Latvian research institutions, as well as government officials and bureaucrats overseeing the implementation of Latvia’s science policies. The interview data is supplemented by data collected through observation and participant observation in various online settings, as well as analysis of legislative materials and news sources.

In line with the literature on the inequalities, insecurities and uncertainties embedded in the contemporary knowledge regimes across the globe, this paper contributes to STS by suggesting that, even though the amount and consequences of infrastructural and interpretive work performed by researchers increase, this labor remains unvalued by research performance indicators.

Author

• Ieva Puzo, Riga Stradins University