Re-Thinking Science

Author: Helga Nowotny
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745657079
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 426

Book Description
Re-Thinking Science presents an account of the dynamic relationship between society and science. Despite the mounting evidence of a much closer, interactive relationship between society and science, current debate still seems to turn on the need to maintain a 'line' to demarcate them. The view persists that there is a one-way communication flow from science to society - with scant attention given to the ways in which society communicates with science. The authors argue that changes in society now make such communications both more likely and more numerous, and that this is transforming science not only in its research practices and the institutions that support it but also deep in its epistemological core. To explain these changes, Nowotny, Scott and Gibbons have developed an open, dynamic framework for re-thinking science. The authors conclude that the line which formerly demarcated society from science is regularly transgressed and that the resulting closer interaction of science and society signals the emergence of a new kind of science: contextualized or context-sensitive science. The co-evolution between society and science requires a more or less complete re-thinking of the basis on which a new social contract between science and society might be constructed. In their discussion the authors present some of the elements that would comprise this new social contract.

CtEU

Author: Maarten Simons
Publisher: Universitaire Pers Leuven
ISBN: 9058678741
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
The university is an institution that goes back to the Middle Ages. As universitas magistrorum et scholarium, the university was a community of scholars and students gathered around books and preoccupied with study and the search for truth. What is the role of the university today? The meanings of teaching, study, and research have changed. Screens are replacing books, online learning environments are replacing lecture halls, and students are becoming learners. In the context of a growing emphasis on innovation and development, competition among institutions, and the privatization of knowledge, the role of communities of scholars and students is changing. Some argue that the university is entering a new phase; others claim that we face the end of the university. Curating the European University features projects involving new ways of publishing, alternative organizations of departments, proposals for open access and open source, and university architecture and accessibility; it offers a unique contribution to the public debate on the role of the university.

Communicating Science in Social Contexts

Author: Donghong Cheng
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402085982
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 323

Book Description
Science communication, as a multidisciplinary field, has developed remarkably in recent years. It is now a distinct and exceedingly dynamic science that melds theoretical approaches with practical experience. Formerly well-established theoretical models now seem out of step with the social reality of the sciences, and the previously clear-cut delineations and interacting domains between cultural fields have blurred. Communicating Science in Social Contexts examines that shift, which itself depicts a profound recomposition of knowledge fields, activities and dissemination practices, and the value accorded to science and technology. Communicating Science in Social Contexts is the product of long-term effort that would not have been possible without the research and expertise of the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Network and the editors. For nearly 20 years, this informal, international network has been organizing events and forums for discussion of the public communication of science.

The Age of Knowledge

Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004211039
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Book Description
The Age of Knowledge emphasizes that the ongoing transformations of knowledge, both within universities and for society more generally, must be understood as a reflection of the larger changes in the constitutive social structures within which they are invariably produced, translated and reproduced. As the development of knowledge continues to be implicated in the habitual practices of the human social enterprise, visualizing these alterations requires the consideration of the social and materialistic contexts informing these transformations. This is necessary because the process of globalization has not only created new challenges for societies but has also unleashed a new political economy of knowledge within which different institutions must re-affirm their identity and place.

Complexity Thinking: Science in the Age of Alternative Truths

Author: Cornelis Pieter Pieters
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
ISBN: 1398490210
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 423

Book Description
Many scholars agree that we are currently living in post-ideological times, and that the role of religion and social ideology has become increasingly limited as a means to organise society. Some even talk of a ‘post-truth’ era, as truth itself has become suspect, and public debate has become infected with terms such as ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative truths.’ In fact, in many scientific areas the notions of truth, objectivity and fact are being questioned, and are often even considered instruments that aim to perpetuate relationships of power of elites. This book aims to take a position in these debates by looking at the often-implicit associations behind truth, objectivity, and fact. By taking a complexity-informed, dialectical approach, a more encompassing understanding of these concepts can be developed, that both respects the formidable achievements of science, while being sensitive to the critique that has been raised, most notably by postmodern thought.

Communicating Risk

Author: Jonathan Crichton
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137478780
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 379

Book Description
We live in world increasingly shaped by risk, a fact underscored by recent events in the financial markets, science and technology, environmental policy and biosecurity, law enforcement and criminal justice. Risk assessment has become a central concern of governments, organisations and the professions, and the communication of risk is a crucial part of professional work. Exploring how risk is discursively constructed across these domains is therefore central to our understanding of how professional practice affects people's lives. Communicating Risk takes up this challenge, with contributions from leading researchers and practitioners that examine key issues of risk communication across diverse professional domains.

Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology

Author: Massimiano Bucchi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134170149
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
Comprehensive yet accessible, this key Handbook provides an up-to-date overview of the fast growing and increasingly important area of ‘public communication of science and technology’, from both research and practical perspectives. As well as introducing the main issues, arenas and professional perspectives involved, it presents the findings of earlier research and the conclusions previously drawn. Unlike most existing books on this topic, this unique volume couples an overview of the practical problems faced by practitioners with a thorough review of relevant literature and research. The practical Handbook format ensures it is a student-friendly resource, but its breadth of scope and impressive contributors means that it is also ideal for practitioners and professionals working in the field. Combining the contributions of different disciplines (media and journalism studies, sociology and history of science), the perspectives of different geographical and cultural contexts, and by selecting key contributions from appropriate and well-respected authors, this original text provides an interdisciplinary as well as a global approach to public communication of science and technology.

Transformations in Research, Higher Education and the Academic Market

Author: Sharon Rider
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400752490
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Book Description
This volume tackles head-on the controversy regarding the tensions between the principles underlying Academe on the one hand, and the free market on the other. Its outspoken thesis posits that seemingly irresistible institutional pressures are betraying a core principle of the Enlightenment: that the free pursuit of knowledge is of the highest value in its own right. As ‘market principles’ are forced on universities, inducing a neoteric culture of ‘managerialism’, many worry that the very characteristics that made European higher education in particular such a success are being eroded and replaced by ideological opportunism and economic expediency. Richly interdisciplinary, the anthology explores a wealth of issues such as the phenomenon of bibliometrics (linking an institution’s success to the volume and visibility of publications produced). Many argue that the use of such indicators to measure scientific value is inimical to the time-consuming complexities of genuine truth-seeking. A number of the greatest discoveries and innovations in the history of science, such as Newton’s laws of mechanics or the Mendelian laws of inheritance, might never have seen the light of day if today’s system of determining and defining the form and content of science had dominated. With analytical perspectives from political science, economics, philosophy and media studies, the collection interrogates, for example, the doctrine of graduate employability that exerts such a powerful influence on course type and structure, especially on technical and professional training. In contrast, the liberal arts must choose between adaptation to the dictates of employability strategies or wither away as enrollments dwindle and resources evaporate. Research projects and aims have also become an area of controversy, with many governments now assessing the value of proposals in terms of assumed commercial benefits. The contributors argue that these changes, as well as ‘reforms’ in the managerial and administrative structures in tertiary education, constitute a radical break with the previous ontology of science and scholarship: a change in its very character, and not merely its form. It shows that the ‘scientific thinking’ students, researchers, and scholars are encouraged to adopt is undergoing a rapid shift in conceptual content, with significant consequences not only for science, but also for the society of which it is a part.

Communicating Science and Technology in Society

Author: Ana Delicado
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030528855
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
This volume addresses the engagement between science and society from multiple viewpoints. At a time when trust in experts is being questioned, misinformation is rife and scientific and technological development show growing social impact, the volume examines the challenges in involving the public in scientific debates and decisions. It takes into account societal needs and concerns in research, and analyses the interface between the roles of institutions and individuals. From environmental challenges to science communication, participatory technological design to animal experimentation, and transdisciplinarity to norms and values in science, the volume brings together research on areas in which scientists and citizens interact, across diverse, often understudied, socio-cultural contexts in Europe. It encompasses the natural sciences, engineering and the social sciences, and the chapters follow diverse theoretical frameworks and methodologies, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This volume contributes not just to scholarly knowledge on the topic of science and society relations, but also provides useful information for students, policy makers, journalists, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) researchers keen on engaging with their publics and conducting responsible research and innovation.

Dreamscapes of Modernity

Author: Sheila Jasanoff
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627666X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

Book Description
Dreamscapes of Modernity offers the first book-length treatment of sociotechnical imaginaries, a concept originated by Sheila Jasanoff and developed in close collaboration with Sang-Hyun Kim to describe how visions of scientific and technological progress carry with them implicit ideas about public purposes, collective futures, and the common good. The book presents a mix of case studies—including nuclear power in Austria, Chinese rice biotechnology, Korean stem cell research, the Indonesian Internet, US bioethics, global health, and more—to illustrate how the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries can lead to more sophisticated understandings of the national and transnational politics of science and technology. A theoretical introduction sets the stage for the contributors’ wide-ranging analyses, and a conclusion gathers and synthesizes their collective findings. The book marks a major theoretical advance for a concept that has been rapidly taken up across the social sciences and promises to become central to scholarship in science and technology studies.