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Thursday 16 August 2012

WUR has for the past two decades used an approach called actor-oriented sociology. It essentially focuses on the analysis of strategic behaviour and on why people do not work together. Röling (2001) has pointed out that this approach has detracted from the social contract of Wageningen social sciences because it focuses on the reasons why people make selfish choices in social dilemmas while neglecting the conditions under which people make co-operative choices, and it also dissuades graduate students from undertaking participatory development, collective action and other projects that would lead to a sustainable environmentally-sound future. Although research chairs are increasingly working together there is no indication that they have embraced the particular participatory method that we want to demonstrate in this project. Lans et al. (2007) is a publication based on the results of this method that has been in the most downloaded paper category from its publication date to Fall 2010 however journal editors are still reluctant to publish participatory research based on this method. Casel and Brennan (2007) argued in their paper that the [US] health system would be better served by physician engagement in a medical commons, ideally with communities of consumers, and that this is arguably the only approach that will ensure proper allocation of health care resources. Lawrence (2007) published a letter in the journal Current Biology claiming that the current competitive structure of modern science is more suited to those who are prepared to show off and to exploit others while modest and less aggressive men and women are not given opportunities to flourish even though they are just as capable of conducting rigourous science. He claims that even though there are more female university students than in previous decades, they are pushed out due to the unnecessarily competitive nature of science and that science loses many original researchers as a result. He thinks that science would flourish in a more understanding and empathetic workplace. Casel, Christine K., Brennan, Troyen E. 2007. Managing Medical Resources. Return to the Commons? JAMA 297 (22): 2518-2520. Roling Niels. From Arena to Interaction: Blind Spot in Actor-Oriented Sociology. admin_en_Roling_long_conference (2).pdf Lans, C., Turner, N., Khan, T., Brauer, G., 2007. Ethnoveterinary medicines used to treat endoparasites and stomach problems in pigs and pets in British Columbia, Canada. Vet. Parasitol. 148, 325–340. Lawrence, Peter. A. 2007. The Mismeasurement of Science. Current Biology 17 (15): r583.