Transcript Engagement, enlistment, responsability, trust : what is a

MISTRA 11 mars 2015
Engagement, « enlistment », responsability,
trust : what is a public
Joëlle Le Marec
Université Paris 7 Diderot, CERILAC, Paris, France
jlemarec.fr
http://c2so.ens-lyon.fr/
http://www.joellelemarec.fr/
http://www.science-societe.fr/
Some preliminary nformations…
•
Teaching
- responsible of master of scientific journalism in Université Paris Diderot
•
Investigations : sociology, ethnography, semiotics (sciences of information and communication) :
-comparative studies of mediatic « discourse » about sciences in Museums, and medias (TV, press)
- practices and « place » of the publics of museums and cultural institutions (libraries)
- ordinary communications in research contexts (laboratories, field work, interdisciplinary and
intercultural contexts, etc.)
- common decency (Orwell), practices of investigation and citizenship (Dewey)
•
« Engagements »
- collaborations for intercultural research, cooperation between cultural institutions, associations, and
university
The political and cultural context
• Trust in science, but doubts and mistrust inscience policy choice : confusions
between scientific research and scientific production of innovations for economical
interests against « bien commun » (common interest?)
• Research related to technosciences or research connected to values of democracy?
• Crisis of the « technical » turn in politics - more and more research in sciences
studies about citizen sciences and sciences « amateurs »
• Crisis in epistemology : field work, reflexivity, and above all, political value of ordinary
choices, and relation between knowledge and “common decency” (Orwell)
Forms of involment in science we are talking about
(not diffusion or popularisation)….
• - in construction of facts for programs led by scientific laboratories :
identification, couting, cartography (birdwatchers, astronomy)
• - in the conception of questions and methods : recent history, gender,
subaltern studies, « citizen studies »
• - in the political management of priorities : lobbies (AIDS, Abestos
association, etc.)
• - in institutional creations : Boutiques des sciences, PICRI, fondation
sciences citoyennes
To remember…
Science as a profession….
• 1799 : Society des « observateurs de l’homme » : first
institution of social sciences, success with the wild
child case and instructions for maritime expeditions
• 1804 : failure of the Society - « professionalization of
scientific institutions (Museum, School of medecine,
Polytechnical School) : « professors », admistrative
responsabilities, wages, hierarchy (Cuvier, Lacépède,
etc.)
• Instruments, political and financial support, and
management workforce (Bacon and the Royal Society),
formation
But….
Permanence of science as a non-professional activity
: scientific societies, volunteers, « amateurs »,
• Astronomy, naturalistes (birdwatchers), botanists
• Social and historical inquiries, witenesses,
• Engagement and/or « enlistment » of volunteers for the « the good
causes » war (from 1793!), health, culture (inquiry about languages)
and for transmission to the next generation (strong value of science)
• The case of ethnography : construction of knowledge with people,
progressive recognition of their auctoriality (Griaule, Clifford)
Seventies in France…Time for participatory
processes and communautary intitiatives
• 1972, creation of ministery of environement, Ecological
consciousness, creation of interdisciplinary in
territories (ecomuseums)
• creation of first « science and society » laboratories,
thesis, cursus (Levy-Leblond « pour une autocritique
des sciences », Jurdant and GERSULP.
• 1966 Bourdieu, « l’amour de l’art » struggle against
vision of universalist culture led by ministry of culture
since Malraux, empowerment of regional communities
for visions of culture as « men and their
environement » transdisciplinary approach of culture
and knowledge.
Années 90-2000 : ambiguous revival of
« participation » (1)
• Political crisis of representative democraty : in search
for legitimacy with « citizen participation » (conference
of consensus, CNDP, OPCST, etc.)
• Epistemological crisis in science studies : critics of
internalist epistemology / studies of epistemological
plurality et heterogeneity, « ordinary decence » and the
layman knowledge
Années 90-2000 : ambiguous revival of
« participation » (2)
• Market of expertise in social communication, in
management of debates (applied sciences in SHS),
• Market of so-called « social networks » and technial
« participatory » devices
• Economy of triviality (Jeanneret)
• New way of talking about « progress » : the public
empowerment
Tensions
• Movements for direct democracy and citizenship (but
also hate of democracy)
• Enigmatic period : With whom do scientists and social
scientists engage? S. Laugier, A. Ogien
• Creations and sociabilities in science and politics