Happiness Studies: Co-Production of Social Science and Social Order

This article is about the growth and establishment of the interdisciplinary research field ”Happiness Studies”. This article focuses on how research on happiness has become a quickly growing and successful field within western societies and what it says about both the social sciences and contemporary social order. The concept of co-production, as defined by Sheila Jasanoff, is used to show how science and society interact and influence each other. Hence, we show how happiness has become a significant topic for empirical studies and the way interdisciplinary research is intertwined with what is perceived as both challenging and worth striving for in society and culture.