STS as science or politics

Collins, Harold Maurice ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2909-9035, Evans, Robert John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7034-5122 and Weinel, Martin 2017. STS as science or politics. Social Studies of Science 47 (4) , pp. 580-586. 10.1177/0306312717710131

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Abstract

In a recent editorial for this journal, Sismondo makes two claims. First, he states that STS bears no responsibility for the emergence of post-truth politics. Second, he claims that debates about the nature of expertise that take place within STS are irrelevant in this context. In contrast, we argue that whether or not STS had a causal influence on the emergence of post-truth politics, there is a clear resonance between the two positions and that the current political climate makes empirically informed and scientific analyses of expertise and the form of life of science more important than ever. We argue that treating STS’s contribution to these matters as essentially political rather than scientific surrenders any special role we have as experts on the organisation and values of science and leaves STS as just one political actor among others

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Centre for the Study of Knowledge Expertise and Science (KES) Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General) Q Science > Q Science (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Science; democracy; expertise; policy-making; post-truth; third wave of science studies
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0306-3127
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	10 May 2017
Date of Acceptance:	9 May 2017
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2024 14:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/100471

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