Academics Applying Interventionist Research to Deal with Wicked and Complex Societal Problems

Laura Corazza, Daniel Torchia and Dario Cottafava

Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 2023, vol. 43, issue 2, 105-122

Abstract: This commentary presents reflections and insights about the role and the legitimacy of academics applying interventionist research to deal with wicked and complex societal problems. It discusses the ethical and moral dilemmas about the role and position of researchers when they are asked to observe, analyse and study conflictual social phenomena in which they are immersed. Starting from a research project in Italy on socio-economic impact evaluation of megaprojects, this commentary wants to bring to the academic community several open questions arising from issues that all of us scholars have to face. First, the applied case, i.e. the Turin-Lyon high-speed railway, and the challenge associated with the research project – developing a socio-economic impact protocol– are described. Second, the implications for researchers, and their legitimacy, are discussed. Third, the three pillars of the strategy adopted for this research intervention are detailed: interparadigmatic research, a critically performative aim, and a commitment to emancipation through a politics of small wins. Finally, in the conclusion, several questions about the boundaries of research, the risk of selfishness, or the quest for objectivity, are reported to open up the debate on the interventionist role of research, its risk and legitimacy, within wicked and conflicting social phenomena.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0969160X.2023.2181838 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:seaccj:v:43:y:2023:i:2:p:105-122

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/REAJ20

DOI: 10.1080/0969160X.2023.2181838

Access Statistics for this article

Social and Environmental Accountability Journal is currently edited by Jeffrey Unerman, John Ferguson and Jan Bebbington

More articles in Social and Environmental Accountability Journal from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().