A social network analysis of an epistemic community studying neoliberal conservation
Bunce, Brittany (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Apostolopoulou, Evangelia (Imperial College London)
Maestre Andrés, Sara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Choy, Alejandra Pizarro (University of St. Andrews)
Requena-i-Mora, Marina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Brockington, Dan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Dret Privat)

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Researchers typically operate in epistemic communities: groups that share common approaches to research agendas and sociopolitical action and define areas of debate. Although productive in their own spheres, a lack of understanding among these communities can undermine scientific progress. Thus, analyzing epistemic communities is important for understanding the politics of knowledge production. Social network analysis sheds light on these dynamics by mapping the collaborative networks that shape academic output. We used 255 publications examined in Apostolopoulou et al. 's review of neoliberal conservation literature and 2135 additional publications in a social network analysis. We compiled a coauthorship network for 318 authors and found a dispersed and polycentric network with low connectivity and relatively small clusters of scholars collaborating within tightly knit groups. Although the structure is conducive to innovation and diversity, building new connections among dispersed coauthor groups could enrich knowledge sharing to drive novel approaches. We identified central actors in building collaborations among communities and communicating ideas across the network. We considered actor attributes, such as gender and geographic location, alongside centrality measures. We found that seventy percent of the 20 authors with the highest betweenness centrality were men, and only one male author was affiliated to an institution in the Global South. Our analysis of thematic clusters in the literature highlighted the spatial patchiness and partialness of the literature across different subfields. Scholars should undertake more work on identified themes in currently excluded geographic regions through effective interdisciplinary collaborations and with local communities of research and practice and grassroots movements. There is a need to strengthen the field's intellectual diversity and to have a deeper engagement with issues of class, gender, and race. This would allow neoliberal conservation to reimagine conservation in ways that are not only environmentally sustainable, but also socially just.
Grants:	European Commission 101054259 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article de revisió ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Coauthorship network analysis ; Conservation social science ; Epistemic communities ; Neoliberal conservation ; Social network analysis
Published in:	Conservation biology, Vol. 39, Issue 2 (April 2025) , art. e70001, ISSN 1523-1739

DOI: 10.1111/cobi.70001
PMID: 40165691

17 p, 4.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles