Competing modes of responsibility in research organisations—Insights from an international comparison

Based on findings from research in the incorporation of responsible research and innovation in research organisations in twelve European and non-European countries, the article discusses how old (i.e. internal) and new (i.e. external) modes of responsibility coexist and compete with each other in actual research practice. Although the analysis shows ubiquitous perceived need for re-arranging the relations between science and society in order to legitimise scientific research in organisations, it also finds that the incumbent structures and cultures of internal thinking are still dominant in most organisations, which leads to considerable resistance to change. In particular, for public engagement and reflexive anticipatory ethics, strategies of conceptual and procedural demarcation are evident. Organisations adapt public engagement or reflexive ethics as extraordinary or experimental activities thus allowing for the continuation of the status quo in the perspective of the ‘republic of science’, keeping ‘internal’ affairs unaffected by societal intervention.