Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications
Abstract Scholar-activism—academic scholars engaging in some form of activism—has recently become a prominent phenomenon as we witness calls for scholars to engage in political, social, and environmental causes that go beyond their traditional academic duties. An emerging literature focuses on schol...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05573-6 |
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| author | Farzana Bashiri Eugenia Perez Vico Anders Hylmö |
| author_facet | Farzana Bashiri Eugenia Perez Vico Anders Hylmö |
| author_sort | Farzana Bashiri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Scholar-activism—academic scholars engaging in some form of activism—has recently become a prominent phenomenon as we witness calls for scholars to engage in political, social, and environmental causes that go beyond their traditional academic duties. An emerging literature focuses on scholar-activism as an object of study. However, the literature is scattered across rather disconnected disciplines and research fields, with few empirically and theoretically well-grounded studies. In this paper, we review this literature and identify the diverse ways in which the phenomenon of scholar-activism has been studied, what is known, and what remains to be explored. This study is based on a systematic scoping literature review drawing on a diverse set of 85 publications from fields such as sociology, geography, management studies, and pedagogy. From the inductive analysis of the papers, three major themes emerge: preconditions, forms, and implications of scholar-activism. Preconditions refer to individual, organisational, and institutional factors conditioning engagement in scholar-activism. Forms involve the various ways in which scholar-activism is enacted, including activist research, teaching, and collaboration. The implications include individual, epistemic, and societal consequences of scholar-activism. The findings of this study provide insights into the growing but still diverse literature on scholar-activism and identify areas for future research and theoretical development. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ab7a40b2974e4e408fedc2a6a89a7dec |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-ab7a40b2974e4e408fedc2a6a89a7dec2025-08-20T03:46:07ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-08-0112111410.1057/s41599-025-05573-6Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implicationsFarzana Bashiri0Eugenia Perez Vico1Anders Hylmö2Lund UniversityLund UniversityLund UniversityAbstract Scholar-activism—academic scholars engaging in some form of activism—has recently become a prominent phenomenon as we witness calls for scholars to engage in political, social, and environmental causes that go beyond their traditional academic duties. An emerging literature focuses on scholar-activism as an object of study. However, the literature is scattered across rather disconnected disciplines and research fields, with few empirically and theoretically well-grounded studies. In this paper, we review this literature and identify the diverse ways in which the phenomenon of scholar-activism has been studied, what is known, and what remains to be explored. This study is based on a systematic scoping literature review drawing on a diverse set of 85 publications from fields such as sociology, geography, management studies, and pedagogy. From the inductive analysis of the papers, three major themes emerge: preconditions, forms, and implications of scholar-activism. Preconditions refer to individual, organisational, and institutional factors conditioning engagement in scholar-activism. Forms involve the various ways in which scholar-activism is enacted, including activist research, teaching, and collaboration. The implications include individual, epistemic, and societal consequences of scholar-activism. The findings of this study provide insights into the growing but still diverse literature on scholar-activism and identify areas for future research and theoretical development.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05573-6 |
| spellingShingle | Farzana Bashiri Eugenia Perez Vico Anders Hylmö Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications |
| title_full | Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications |
| title_fullStr | Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications |
| title_short | Scholar-activism as an object of study in a diverse literature: preconditions, forms, and implications |
| title_sort | scholar activism as an object of study in a diverse literature preconditions forms and implications |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05573-6 |
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