scholarly journals Scientists who become activists: are they crossing a line?

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. C03 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Isopp
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Communication Work ◽  
Context Dependent

This commentary explores a traditionally supposed boundary between science and politics, with particular attention to activist scientists who engage in public communication. Work in fields like science and technology studies shows that framing this boundary in terms of epistemological rules fails. Boundaries dictating proper scientific activities are at best pragmatic, context-dependent, and fluid. Certainly, certain kinds of politics can undermine the integrity of scientific knowledge, but it is imperative to recognize that all science is political. As we see with activist climate scientists, certain scientific knowledge carries far-reaching political consequences. It is thus problematic to call for the “de-politicization” of science or science communication. A turn from epistemic to ethical concerns perhaps offers a more constructive way forward.

scholarly journals Some contributions of Habermas to the study of public communication of science

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-44
Author(s):  
Ana Eliza Ferreira Alvim-Silva ◽  
José Roberto Pereira ◽  
Cibele Maria Garcia de Aguiar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
Social Interests ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Communication Of Science ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Practice Of Science

Abstract: This theoretical essay explores three publications by Jürgen Habermas from the 1960s. The author deals with the critique of science, the production of knowledge and universities democratization. The objective was to extract from them clipings of reflections that can contribute to the studies of public communication of science. We consolidated the considerations into a graphic representation that summarizes the factors to be considered when thinking about the practice of science communication in society: the importance of considering the three interests that drive the production of knowledge - technical, practical and emancipatory, of promoting self-reflection of sciences in politicized and democratized universities, and the mediation of society in the interaction between science and politics, to subsidize decision-making based on social interests. We argue that the basis for a public communication idea of dialogical science - now widely defended - emerged in the German philosopher’s thinking in books published more than 50 years ago. However, that was not his central motivation at that time.

scholarly journals Communicating Science for social inclusion and political engagement: reflections on the PCST Conference, Brazil 2014

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. R01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Treffry-Goatley
Keyword(s):  
Developing Country ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
International Community ◽  
National Government ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Sheer Size

The 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST) conference offered a valuable opportunity for over 500 science communicators to congregate and network with the international community. While the sheer size of the event made fostering debate somewhat of a challenge, the pertinent theme of ‘science communication for social inclusion and political engagement’, inspired some thought-provoking talks. Certainly, it was an appropriate time for this topic to be explored in Brazil, a developing country with a national government actively working towards greater social inclusion and local scientific development.

Virtual Witnessing in a Virtual Age

2008 ◽  
pp. 1064-1081
Author(s):  
Steve Woolgar ◽  
Catelijne Coopmans
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Data Networks ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Virtual Age ◽  
Early Emergence ◽  
Technical Capacity

Despite a substantial unfolding investment in Grid technologies (for the development of cyberinfrastructures or e-science), little is known about how, why and by whom these new technologies are being adopted or will be taken up. This chapter argues for the importance of addressing these questions from an STS (science and technology studies) perspective, which develops and maintains a working scepticism with respect to the claims and attributions of scientific and technical capacity. We identify three interconnected topics with particular salience for Grid technologies: data, networks, and accountability. The chapter provides an illustration of howthese topics might be approached from an STS perspective, by revisiting the idea of “virtual witnessing”—a key idea in understanding the early emergence of criteria of adequacy in experiments and demonstrations at the birth of modern science—and by drawing upon preliminary interviews with prospective scientist users of Grid technologies. The chapter concludes that, against the temptation to represent the effects of new technologies on the growth of scientific knowledge as straightforward and determinate, e-scientists are immersed in structures of interlocking accountabilities which leave the effects uncertain.

scholarly journals A historical kaleidoscope of public communication of science and technology

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. E ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Massarani ◽  
Ildeu Moreira ◽  
Bruce Lewenstein
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Building Science ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Communication Of Science ◽  
Different Parts

Science communication is today a well-established ―although young― area of research. However, there are only a few books and papers analyzing how science communication has developed historically. Aiming to, in some way, contribute to filling this gap, JCOM organized this special issue on the History of Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST), joining 15 contributions, from different parts of the globe. The papers published in this issue are organized in three groups, though with diffuse boundaries: geography, media, and discipline. The first group contains works that deal descriptively and critically with the development of PCST actions and either general or specific public policies for this area in specific countries. A second set of papers examines aspects of building science communication on TV or in print media. The third group of papers presents and discusses important PCST cases in specific areas of science or technology at various historical moments.

scholarly journals Monitoring Technoscientific Issues in the News

2020 ◽  
pp. 536-553
Author(s):  
Alberto Cammozzo ◽  
Emanuele Di Buccio ◽  
Federico Neresini
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Computer Scientists ◽  
Science In Society

AbstractResearch at the intersection between Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) investigates the role of science in society and how it is publicly perceived. An increasing attention has been paid to coverage of Science and Technology (S&T) issues in newspapers. Because of the availability of a huge amount of digitized news contents, the variety of the issues and their dynamic nature, new opportunities are offered to carry out STS and PCST investigations. The main contribution of this paper is a methodology and a system called TIPS that was co-shaped by sociologists and computer scientists in order to monitor the coverage of S&T issues in the news and to study how they are represented. The methodology relies on machine learning, information retrieval and data analytics approaches which aim at supporting expert users, e.g. sociologists, in the investigation of their research hypotheses.

scholarly journals How-to establish PCST. Two handbooks on science communication

2008 ◽  
Vol 07 (04) ◽  
pp. R01
Author(s):  
Alessandro Delfanti
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Academic Fields ◽  
New Models ◽  
Empirical Point

In 2008 two collections were published: the Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, edited by Massimiano Bucchi and Brian Trench, and Communicating Science in Social Contexts: New models, new practices, edited by Donghong Cheng and five other scholars from China, Canada, Belgium and Australia. These books try to define and draw the boundaries of science communication’s field from both a theoretical and empirical point of view. But do we need to establish it as a distinct research field? For a number of decades, a growing community of scholars and communicators is trying to reply positively to this question, but the need to look outside the disciplinary boundaries, to other academic fields, is still vital.

Producing Targets for Conservation: Science and Politics at the Tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Campbell ◽  
Shannon Hagerman ◽  
Noella J. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Conservation Science ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
2010 Target ◽  
Conservation Governance ◽  
Governance Network

Biodiversity targets were prominent at the Tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Having failed to reach the CBD's 2010 target, delegates debated the nature of targets, details of specific targets, and how to avoid failure in 2020. As part of a group of seventeen researchers conducting a collaborative event ethnography at COP10, we draw on observations made during negotiations of the CBD Strategic Plan and at side events to analyze the production of the 2020 targets. Once adopted, targets become “naturalized,” detached from the negotiations that produced them. Drawing on insights from science and technology studies, we analyze the interaction of science and politics during negotiations and discuss what targets do within the CBD and the broader global conservation governance network.

Interdisciplinary Hauntings

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Scientific Culture ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Feminist Science ◽  
Technology Studies

This introductory chapter illustrates how scientific culture is not, in fact, a “culture of no culture.” Rather, it argues that categories of gender, race, class, sexuality, and nation were everywhere, constantly shaping science, its practitioners, its cultures, and scientific knowledge. Thus, the chapter traces the author's own scientific trajectories, moving from a disciplinary world of natures and cultures into an interdisciplinary one of “naturecultures.” It discusses the problem of methodology and contextualizes this study within the realm of feminist science and technology studies (FSTS), revealing the vast complexity of naturecultures which, furthermore, are underscored by the metaphor of the supernatural as “unfinished business.” The chapter asserts that ghosts, rather than a superstitious legacy of a past, are a haunting reminder of an ignored past.

scholarly journals Reflecting on the Science in Science Communication

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Bronson
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Communicative Acts ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Etude De Cas ◽  
Scientific Fact ◽  
Étude De Cas

Science communication is often understood as the transmission of facts to ignorant audiences. Science and Technology Studies allows a different perspective on science—as open to negotiation with other knowledges and institutions—and therefore a different perspective on its communication. Within an STS perspective, what counts as scientific fact or legitimate expertise takes shape within communicative acts. This article demonstrates the analytical purchase given by taking such an approach to science communication by applying it to a case analysis of biotechnology resistance on the Canadian Prairie.La communication scientifique est souvent comprise comme la transmission de faits à un public ignorant. Etudes des science et technologies (STS) nous proposent une perspective différente sur la science—comme un ensemble de contenus ouverts à la négociation avec d’autres savoirs et institutions—et donc une perspective décalée en termes de communication. Dans une perspective STS, ce qui est considéré comme un fait scientifique ou une expertise légitime prend forme dans des actes de communication. Cet article démontre la pertinence de ce type d’analyse pour appréhender la communication scientifique en l’appliquant à une étude de cas portant sur la résistance face aux biotechnologies dans la Prairie canadienne.

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