Scaling Up Research Governance: From Exceptionalism to Fragmentation

Abstract

Currie-Alder examines how Muslim-majority states have governed public research investments and capacity during recent decades, identifying distinct perspectives that focus on the national, regional, and global levels. Public universities and research centers train skilled professionals, ministerial meetings and international organizations represent Islamic or Arab world science, while self-organizing scientists collaborate with peers abroad. National perspective privileges domestic science, regional perspective privileges cooperation among predominantly Muslim states, and global perspective privileges links to science-leading locations anywhere. Research governance shifted from emphasizing exceptionalism of science in the Muslim world to becoming more entangled with global science. Implications of this shift include narrowing of domestic research agendas onto shared “global” challenges, moving away from regional cooperation, and fragmenting research efforts across Muslim states.