Om blindsoner, utkikkspunkt og epistemologiske fellesskap: Hva kan gjøres for å skape ny kunnskap?

Abstract

There are many barriers for researchers’ attempts to offer new insights. Categories, perspectives and the needs of the present play a part in forming what researchers see, think and write. In this chapter I present examples from my own and others’ research in order to explore the dynamics of how such impact plays out. Lack of recognition of how one’s thinking is shaped by definitions and assumptions derived from our present situation means that researchers easily end up acting as problem solvers instead of contributing by identifying new problems and offering new analysis and insights. There is thus much to gain, for both the researcher and society, if research is able to go beyond contemporary understandings, and I end the chapter by presenting possible avenues for realizing this potential.