An argument that draws on canonical and contemporary thinkers in
political theory and science studies—from Machiavelli to
Latour—for insights on bringing scientific expertise into
representative democracy. Public controversies over issues ranging
from global warming to biotechnology have politicized scientific
expertise and research. Some respond with calls for restoring a golden
age of value-free science. More promising efforts seek to democratize
science. But what does that mean? Can it go beyond the typical focus
on public participation? How does the politics of science challenge
prevailing views of democracy? In Science in Democracy, Mark Brown
draws on science and technology studies, democratic theory, and the
history of political thought to show why an adequate response to
politicized science depends on rethinking both science and democracy.
Brown enlists such canonical and contemporary thinkers as Machiavelli,
Hobbes, Rousseau, Dewey, and Latour to argue that the familiar
dichotomy between politics and science reinforces a similar dichotomy
between direct democracy and representative government. He then
develops an alternative perspective based on the mutual shaping of
participation and representation in both science and politics.
Political representation requires scientific expertise, and scientific
institutions may become sites of political representation. Brown
illustrates his argument with examples from expert advisory
committees, bioethics councils, and lay forums. Different
institutional venues, he shows, mediate different elements of
democratic representation. If we understand democracy as an
institutionally distributed process of collective representation,
Brown argues, it becomes easier to see the politicization of science
not as a threat to democracy but as an opportunity for it.
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Expertise, Institutions, and Representation
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780262258050
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Random House Publishing Services
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter