Abstract
Changes in research production precipitated by the globalization have generally been theorized as applying across nations and disciplinary projects. This article examines the relation of discipline to research production from the situational vantage point of the developing world, specifically the Southern African country of Malawi, and from the empirical perspective of the social sciences. Evidence derives from eight months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Malawi in 2003 and 2004, drawing specifically from over 100 formal interviews and from analysis of historical and contemporary documents. The article finds that against depictions of academic disciplines as inflexible, arbitrary, and in need of restructuring, the case of the social sciences in Malawi demonstrates the value of distinctly disciplined expertise in problem-oriented research. This efficacy is, however, precariously dependent on the capacity of local disciplinary communities to regenerate and reproduce their expertise and compete effectively in the increasingly competitive knowledge market.
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Notes
Dr Banda was a medical doctor, trained in the US and Britain. He is commonly referred to in Malawi as “Dr Banda” and I follow that convention here.
The legacy of Dr Banda’s rule in Malawi today is complex. He is said to have as many critics as defenders, and although many suffered under his leadership, there is growing fondness for the relative prosperity and optimism associated with this period, which contrasts to the increasing impoverishment of the country under its democratically elected leaders.
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Acknowledgments
Beneficial comments on the work reported here were made by Raymond Apthorpe, Louis Dzimbiri, Kathleen Hall, Henrika Kuklick, and Susan Cotts Watkins. The author is grateful to the International Dissertation Field Research program of the Social Science Research Council for its support of fieldwork for this research and its facilitation of networking and feedback on the larger project that it is a part. The author extends thanks and respectful acknowledgement to the great many faculty members at the University of Malawi without whose cooperation this work would not have been possible.
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Holland, D.G. Discipline in the context of development: a case of the social sciences in Malawi, Southern Africa. High Educ 55, 671–681 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-007-9082-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-007-9082-4