"Commodification", "commercialization"or "privatization"? Political Economy of Science to understand the changes on the finances of science

Abstract

The rapid transformation of the whole scientific enterprise during the last decades, as a result of the dramatic changes on its finances, it has turned into an object of inquiry, both from the perspective of the academic research and the militant one. The main object of this paper consists in analyzing the content of some of these contributions, particularly when they make room for expressions as «commodification», «commercialization» or «privatization» so as to feature the newest conditions under the scientific praxis is being undertaken. Nonetheless, such an aim could not be put into reality without considering some aspects of the scientific enterprise, as its commodified character or even its status as an independent sector of the social production according to the Marxist theory —it is an unavoidable necessity to start building up a Political Economy of Science truly marxist.