Sites of a grand societal experiment: a research approach

I propose a dual methodology, of close, almost ethnographic, study of sites full of tension and struggle, and complemented by an overall contemporary historical-reflexive diagnosis of what is happening in society, as it were a grand societal experiment. The diagnosis informs the analysis and interpretation of the study of the sites, while the dynamics and outcomes of the sites actually contribute to the grand societal experiment. The methodology is illustrated by a discussion of universities and their so-called third mission, and by other cases