About us
Score is a multidisciplinary research center with the task of initiating, conducting and disseminating research on the organization of modern society. The center is organized in the form of a joint research center for Stockholm School of Economics and Stockholm University. Today we are found in the Nobel House on Campus Frescati, at Stockholm University.
What unites the researchers at Score is primarily an interest and commitment to developing knowledge about the organization of society and specifically the role of public organizations in societal development. Traditionally, our researchers have had their background in the disciplines of business administration, economic history, social anthropology, sociology and political science, but researchers from other subjects can also be connected to Score.
At Score, we study the organization of society in the borderland between the public sector, business and civil society. Our studies are centered around a number of broad themes: Organization of markets, Organization of knowledge, Democracy, legitimacy and power, Rule-making and rule-following, and Organization for handling major societal challenges. The thematic research is conducted through externally funded research programs and projects of various sizes.
Common financiers are the Swedish Research Council, the Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, Handelsbanken's research foundations, Forte, Formas and AFA Försäkring, but there are also other financiers, as well as research through partnerships and collaboration with authorities, companies and civil society organisations.
Research themes
Score's themes are intentionally broad and heterogeneous in nature. They accommodate different projects and allow different theoretical and methodological approaches. It is the research problems that are the important commonality.
Researchers from all disciplines at Score participate in each theme. Ongoing and intensive seminar discussions are a central element, not only in the formulation of a theme but also throughout its lifetime. Joint book projects have proven to be a particularly successful form of collaboration.
Learn more about our research themes
History
In the early 1990s, the Swedish Parliament decided to allocate funds for more research into the transformation of the public sector. Score was formed in 1992 as a result.
A group of organizational researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics joined forces with researchers from political science, sociology, social anthropology and history at Stockholm University. With the help of the new funds, it was possible to create a genuine multidisciplinary center for basic research on various aspects of the governance and organization of the public sector.
In 1995 Score moved to shared premises in the beautiful area Kräftriket next to Brunnsviken, located between the School of Economics and the university. Pretty soon Score grew to about its current size with around 40 employees. In the spring of 2016, Score moved to newly renovated but equally beautiful premises in the western part of the Nobel Houses in Frescati.
Research
In the early years, the research reflected the concrete programs and projects that the senior researchers had brought to the new center. To a large extent, it involved studies of current reforms in the public sector – for example privatization projects, introduction of new governance models – but also of administrative policy in general and of the state's development in a longer perspective. Eventually, the researchers became convinced that it should be possible and expedient with a stronger thematization of the research.
Based on ongoing research, two themes were established at Score in 1998 – Rule-making and rule-following and Stability and change, These consequences of Score's third theme in 2003 – Democracy, legitimacy and power. With results from the work with the first themes as a basis, a fourth theme was developed, Organization of markets, in 2005. At about the same time, it was decided to dismantle stability and change as a separate theme, as these were rather questions that were elements of the other themes. Both the Rules and the market theme are also run as a larger research program with funding from the Riksbank's Jubileumsfond. In 2011, the fifth theme – Organization of knowledge – was established, also based on results from previous thematic research. A new theme is currently being developed with a focus on organizing for major societal challenges, such as climate change, integration and digitization.
The thematically coherent research at Score means common and dynamic frameworks for our research, while at the same time opening up projects that intersect between themes. At the same time, there is also plenty of room for research that lies outside the themes. This is how established themes are challenged and new ones emerge.
Score 30 years, 2022
In 2022, Score turned 30 years old. We celebrated this with a series of events and activities throughout the year, including a series of book seminars and a large conference.
At the beginning of October, the big event of the anniversary year, the international conference Organizing the World 2.0, got underway. During two productive days, around 90 researchers gathered in the Aula Magna premises at Stockholm University to present ongoing research and exchange ideas.
On Thursday 6 October, Paul de Gay and Thomas Lopdrup-Hjorth gave a Keynote entitled 'Reason of State' as a stance for Organizing the World 2.0: a benign view.
On Friday 7 October, Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier gave a Keynote entitled How affluent consumption comes to consumers? The organization of markets and government of consumers practices.
On Thursday evening, the conference participants were invited to a mingling with live music in Score's premises in the Nobel House, followed by dinner in Albano.
Parallel sessions:
- Policy and democracy
- Partial organization
- Knowledge production
- Public-private markets
- Making decisions
- Legitimizing and communication
- Standards
- Order and organization
- Public organization
- Organization in education
- Organizing markets
- Politics and policy
- Collaboration and tension
- Response to sustainability
- Meta-organizations
Further information:
Call for Papers (pdf) (263 Kb)
Schedule Organizing the World 2.0 (pdf) (296 Kb)
Last updated: February 28, 2024
Source: Score