The lecture on knowledge production, the first part of which was given in 2015, started from a theoretical argument and an observation. On the theoretical level, it is fruitful to distinguish between activities whose exercise is accompanied by structurally uncertain chances of success, due to their content in inventiveness and creativity, and activities whose chances of normal realization are sufficiently certain. We apply this analytical framework to the world of scientific and academic work, using a general principle of analysis that goes like this: research and invention work would not be viable if the professions in which it is carried out were not organized to absorb part of the risk of failure.
The second observation is factual. Analysis of careers, employment, remuneration and the organization of higher education is far more developed in the Anglo-American world than in Europe. European reforms have changed the situation. They have led to a differentiation of the university fabric, and made intra- and international competition more visible and intense. The transformations they are triggering are reshaping academic careers in a selective way, not least because of the unequal exposure of different scientific disciplines and different generations of teacher-researchers to international research competition. In addition to structuring careers around an internal market, competition and mobility are changing the architecture of organizations, the allocation of teaching and research tasks, the principles for evaluating the activity of individuals and teams, incentive mechanisms for scientific productivity and remuneration levels.