Mapping out the research-policy matrix : a report on the outputs from the first International Forum on the Social Science-Policy Nexus / edited by Germań Soliniś and Nicolas Baya-Laffite.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Framing the links. Instrumental approaches to the links -- Focusing on the conceptual uses of research in the policy process -- Focusing on specific actors shaping the nexus between social science and policy -- Conclusion -- Collected documents. The politics of knowledge management -- A knowledge system for managing social transformations -- Research and policy-making in the field of health at the federal level in Canada -- The governmentality of consultancy and competition: the influence of the OECD -- The knowledge base for the work of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization -- Globalization and the new social conditions of development and democracy -- The knowledge commitment and city management -- Metropolitan environmental management and the contribution of the University of Saõ Paulo.

Social science research provides not only abstract, conceptual knowledge about society but also concrete, instrumental knowledge. It enables us to take action to recompose the world we live inches However, this book rejects narrow and simplistic conceptions of research use and its impact on policy-making, to embrace a more complex approach to seeing and dealing with social science. In the paradigm of 'evidence-based policy', 'evidence' is understood in its broad sense as information that helps form policies. Nonetheless, within current practices and discourse, it is not clear what 'information' is, what is really meant by 'evidence', and how it can be obtained objectively. The book draws on papers presented at the International Forum on the Social Science-Policy Nexus, where experts examined current practices and problems in areas such as social policy, migration, urban policies and globalization. The Forum set a precedent in terms of dialogue between researchers and policy-makers. The authors contribute to enriching and elucidating the most common conceptualizations of the research-policy nexus. They represent a rich diversity of views, although most agree that an effective strategy to enhance social science-policy linkages should be underpinned by a theoretical and methodological framework that takes into account the interplay of different social actors.