Mediating Science and Society in the EU and UK: From Information-Transmission to Deliberative Democracy?

Autor/inn/en	Tlili, Anwar; Dawson, Emily
Titel	Mediating Science and Society in the EU and UK: From Information-Transmission to Deliberative Democracy?
Quelle	In: Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy, 48 (2010) 4, S.429-461 (33 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0026-4695
DOI	10.1007/s11024-010-9160-0
Schlagwörter	Science and Society; Democracy; Public Policy; Informal Education; Foreign Countries; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Demokratie; Öffentliche Ordnung; Informelle Bildung; Nichtformale Bildung; Ausland; Großbritannien
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. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10