Politics and Science as a Vocation: Can Academics Save us from Post-Truth Politics?

STS as science or politics?

In a recent editorial for this journal, Sergio 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, ...

Introduction : Disasters as Politics – Politics as Disasters

What is the relationship between politics and disasters and how does this relate to the recent boom in disaster studies? The introduction to this volume argues that the recent interest in disasters is not because there are more disasters, but because of two recent developments within the social sciences: first, a focus on rupture rather than on continuity and second, a focus on materiality. Dis...

Argumentative turn Policy analysis , science and politics : from ‘ speaking truth to power ’ to ‘ making sense together ’

In an historical overview, this paper links to the paradox that the increasing scientification of politics leads to a politicisation of science. For a long time, scientists offered their capabilities as ‘speaking truth to power’. Since the beginning of the 1990s, this input has been transformed into an argumentative policy analysis. This reinvigorates political prudence as ‘making sense together’.

Science and politics: from science to decision making.

Science and risk assessment are important features of health and environmental legislation in most, if not all, nations. The technique of science-based risk assessment is designed to provide a rational mechanism for distilling and evaluating scientific knowledge regarding the risks of exposure to hazardous chemicals on human health or the environment. The outcome of science-based risk assessmen...

Politics and science: reproductive health.