Academics Applying Interventionist Research to Deal with Wicked and Complex Societal Problems

This commentary presents reflections and insights about the role and the legitimacy of academics applying interventionist research to deal with wicked and complex societal problems. It discusses the ethical and moral dilemmas about the role and position of researchers when they are asked to observe, analyse and study conflictual social phenomena in which they are immersed. Starting from a research project in Italy on socio-economic impact evaluation of megaprojects, this commentary wants to bring to the academic community several open questions arising from issues that all of us scholars have to face. First, the applied case, i.e. the Turin-Lyon high-speed railway, and the challenge associated with the research project–developing a socio-economic impact protocol– are described. Second, the implications for researchers, and their legitimacy, are discussed. Third, the three pillars of the strategy adopted for this research intervention are detailed: interparadigmatic research, a critically performative aim, and a commitment to emancipation through a politics of small wins. Finally, in the conclusion, several questions about the boundaries of research, the risk of selfishness, or the quest for objectivity, are reported to open up the debate on the interventionist role of research, its risk and legitimacy, within wicked and conflicting social phenomena.