Forms of authority in the Chilean scientific practice: the case of astronomy

Abstract

This paper aims to introduce the results of an exploratory research about scientific authority in the academic field of Chilean astronomy. Based on a qualitative methodology approach, ten in-depth interviews to astronomers were conducted. Research findings show two main components of the scientific field. There is an institutional axis and a scientific axis. The first one is related to access and resources management, and the second one to strictly scientific activities that enable knowledge creation. These results suggest a new form of scientific authority recognizable in some constituent agents of the field, which is generating counterproductive tensions within the field.