| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis analyzes how the principles of academic capitalism and new public management affect the competitiveness of sociology in Lithuania within the context of competitive funding, and what position sociology occupies within this competitive landscape. Based on Richard Münch’s research in Academic Capitalism (2014), the study raises the question of how increasing accountability requirements affect Lithuanian sociologists’ understanding of scientific value. The study analyzes data from project applications initiated by researchers in the humanities and social sciences to the Lithuanian Research Council for the period 2017–2025. The aim was to compare groups of projects that received funding with those that did not, and to determine to what extent success is determined by institutional competitiveness, inter-institutional collaboration, interdisciplinary connections, and the thematic distribution of sociological research. Of all applications submitted by HSM researchers (n=1167), only one in five (239) received funding. Social network analysis and qualitative and quantitative content analysis methods were used to identify application strategies and methods of justifying value. The study results showed that in the field of HSM project funding, sociology is one of the disciplines submitting the most applications (127), however, over the past eight years, the proportion of funded projects has fallen from 13 funded projects out of 40 (2017–2019) to 8 funded projects out of 40 (2024–2025). It was also found that applied and exploratory sociology dominate among funded sociological projects. Among the disciplines classified under the field of sociology—including criminology, anthropology, human geography, social work, and social policy—the disciplines of social work and human geography were identified at the bottom of the funding hierarchy during the study period. On the one hand, Lithuanian sociologists have adapted to the conditions NPM, as evidenced by the variety of accountability and effectiveness terms used in the applications submitted; on the other hand, the topics of funded projects reflect a tension between applied and exploratory research. This tension between scientific rigor and accountability can be considered one of the defining features of sociology participating in LRC competitive funding. |
