Mediating Science and Society in the EU and UK: From Information-Transmission to Deliberative Democracy? |
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| Authors: | Anwar Tlili Emily Dawson |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Education and Professional Studies, King’s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building (WBW), Waterloo Road, London, SE1 9NH, UK |
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| Abstract: | In this paper we critically review recent developments in policies, practices and philosophies pertaining to the mediation
between science and the public within the EU and the UK, focusing in particular on the current paradigm of Public Understanding
of Science and Technology (PEST) which seeks to depart from the science information-transmission associated with previous
paradigms, and enact a deliberative democracy model. We first outline the features of the current crisis in democracy and
discuss deliberative democracy as a response to this crisis. We then map out and critically review the broad outlines of recent
policy developments in public-science mediation in the EU and UK contexts, focusing on the shift towards the deliberative-democratic
model. We conclude with some critical thoughts on the complex interrelationships between democracy, equality, science and
informal pedagogies in public-science mediations. We argue that science and democracy operate within distinct value-spheres
that are not necessarily consonant with each other. We also problematize the now common dismissal of information-transmission
of science as inimical to democratic engagement, and argue for a reassessment of the role and importance of informal science
learning for the “lay” public, provided within the framework of a deliberative democracy that is not reducible to consensus
building or the mere expression of opinions rooted in social and cultural givens. This, we argue, can be delivered by a model
of PEST that is creative and experimental, with both educational and democratic functions. |
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