European Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in a Global Context Preliminary findings from the INTERCO-SSH Project

The SSH form an increasingly global field of research and training. Research output has during the past three decades expanded considerably in almost every part of the world, transnational connections and collaborations have gained more weight, and English has become the lingua franca of international communication. This globalizing field of the SSH is strongly dominated by Western countries in terms of research capacity and publication outlets, and even more so with regard to scholarly recognition and prestige (as measured by citations and prizes). At the global level the SSH display a duopolistic structure, with a North American-European core, various semi-peripheral and multiple peripheral regions and countries. One of the most important changes in this global system has been the rise of Europe, which in terms of research output (articles, books) and research organizations (networks, journals, professional associations) is on a level that is roughly comparable to that of North America. In a relatively short period of time, mainly since the 1990s, a European infrastructure has emerged (funding programs, journals, professional associations) that has reshaped the research and publication process in the SSH in the region. The EC Framework programmes played a structuring role in fostering intra-European collaboration involving smaller countries and their institutions.