The Research Network 1989
Towards 2009, the 20th anniversary of 1989, a global window of attention opens. While particularly in Central and Eastern Europe participants, observers and academics will be recording their interpretations, 1989 was also a global and world-historical event. 1989 happened in Central and Eastern Europe, but it did so too in China or Western Europe, in East Asia or North America. The end of that which has been called the East-West divide, Cold War, Soviet empire, communist party rule, state socialism and so on, is world historically significant, as is the social and cultural transformation that ensued. 1989 was a watershed for events which came in its aftermath: a new geopolitical configuration, European Union enlargement, trans-national economics and changing values on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Yet, cultural, economic, legal, political and social interpretations are intertwined with the flow of history and are themselves subject to appropriation and revision by actors. ‘Before’ and ‘after’ 1989 are thus inextricably linked.
The transition generation
The Research Network 1989 is the Visible College of the post-1989 generation. We have received postgraduate grants and postdoctoral scholarships to ‘go East’ and ‘go West’. We lecture abroad, migrate to new countries and pursue international careers in ways not imaginable before 1989. Typically, the transition generation is at home in several languages and countries. We integrate scholarly perspectives in a trans-national and comparative manner.
Talent in transition
The Research Network 1989 facilitates, over the full term, the transition from PhD to principal investigator and tenure. We foster post-doctoral independence and creativity, in line with new post-doctoral flagship awards in Europe. We provide a platform for the early independence of scholars as they write a career development and research plan and enlist the support of a suitable team of mentors. In the next decade, our generation will take over from the retiring baby boomers.
Transition in the human sciences
We network knowledge production in a fashion that fosters both collaboration and individual creativity. We scale up and integrate research and publishing activities by working in trans-national and interdisciplinary groups from the start, yet individual scholars are free to pursue their preferred line of enquiry in the search for originality. The Research Network 1989 offers a space for risk-taking in a no-fault zone and encourages innovations that may lead to new theories and research.
Knowledge creation in transition
Our network is open towards the future and responsive to a changing environment, yet rooted in a clear structure of working groups with consistent agendas. 1989 signifies a break important enough to warrant a re-appraisal of intellectual history, a re-assessment of scholarly imagination and a re-examination of theoretical foundations. Consequently, the Research Network 1989 covers theory, method, history, policy and higher education teaching and learning. The pairing of an innovative and coherent intellectual agenda with organisational flexibility means that our trans-national, interdisciplinary and digital approach emulates and improves upon the best practice in fostering original breakthroughs and creating high-impact knowledge.
The academy in transition
We engage in digital networked peer production. As working group members are distributed around the globe, they participate in ‘collaboratories’ that draw on recent advances in e-science and digital technology to coordinate their agenda and ensure timely delivery. In distributing knowledge, the Research Network 1989 guarantees peer review while reducing first copy costs of research articles to zero. Consequently, our electronic services are free to authors and readers. Open access means that our results will be available in Western and Eastern Europe, in Eurasia and around the world.
