A Historical perspective on science and its 'others'

Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent (1)

1 CETCOPRA - Centre d'étude des techniques, des connaissances et des pratiques

Reflecting on the debate concerning the value to historians of the category "popular science", this paper argues that the model of legitimate science that is currently emerging, invites us to consider how the notions of science and the public have been mutually configured and reconfigured over time. First, it points to the tremendous impact of technosciences on the public sphere. The recent shift from the deficit model to the participatory model has profoundly changed the values underlying science communication. Whereas previously it was performed in the name of science, it is now performed in the name of democracy. This political turn suggests that we should consider symmetrically not only how science and its public face are socially constructed but also how the notion of a lay public has been constructed by scientific practices. Finally I suggest that historical studies should focus on the mechanisms of demarcation and discrimination between science and rival forms of knowledge.

Domains: History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences

Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent. A Historical perspective on science and its 'others'. Isis, 2009, 100, pp.359-368. ⟨hal-00925427⟩