A Mission for MARS: The Success of Climate Change Skeptic Rhetoric in the US
Radio and television broadcasters accuse climate scientists of “promoting a global warming hoax”, recommending that they be “named and fi red, drawn and quartered” (Rush Limbaugh); commit “hara kiri” (Glenn Beck); and be “publicly flogged” (Mark Morano). Conservative media are crucial in promoting climate skepticism. Likewise, climate skepticism resonates well with white middle-class men. But why does the middle class continue to support “radical” positions? This article focuses on Anti-Intellectualism to explain why climate skeptic rhetoric resonates with “Middle American Radicals” (MARS).
Examining Open Innovation in Science (OIS): what Open Innovation can and cannot offer the science of science
Scholars across disciplines increasingly hear calls for more open andcollaborative approaches to scientific research. The concept of OpenInnovation in Science (OIS) provides a framework that integratesdispersed research efforts aiming to understand the antecedents,contingencies, and consequences of applying open and collaborativeresearch practices. While the OIS framework has already been taken upby science of science scholars, its conceptual underpinnings requirefurther specification. In this essay, we critically examine the OIS conceptand bring to light two key aspects: 1) how OIS builds upon OpenInnovation (OI) research by adopting its attention to boundary-crossingknowledge flows and by…
Corporealising a Healthy Democracy? Inequality, Bodies and Participation
Socio-economic inequality is associated with differentiated levels of health and poor health affects political participation; inequalities are embodied in political life. This contribution, focusin...
What Counts in the Politics of Climate Change? Science, Scepticism and Emblematic Numbers
Scientific data is frequently presented in climate policy in the form of targets, thresholds and other “emblematic numbers”. Emblematic numbers provide putatively accurate, easily graspable units of comparison. Their use, however, belies the complexity of climate change and scientific data and threatens to mask the political decisions that operate behind them. Those interested in disrupting policymaking are able to expose and exploit this masked politicisation. This contribution unpicks the ambiguous politics of emblematic numbers. A Qualitative Content Analysis of the 2015 NIPCC report reveals the tactics of a climate change denial organisation to target the politics behind “97%” and “95%”…
The Open Innovation in Science research field: a collaborative conceptualisation approach
Openness and collaboration in scientific research are attracting increasing attention from scholars and practitioners alike. However, a common understanding of these phenomena is hindered by disciplinary boundaries and disconnected research streams. We link dispersed knowledge on Open Innovation, Open Science, and related concepts such as Responsible Research and Innovation by proposing a unifying Open Innovation in Science (OIS) Research Framework. This framework captures the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of open and collaborative practices along the entire process of generating and disseminating scientific insights and translating them into innovation. Moreover, it elucidat…
From Gamble to Conformity? Academic Careers, Ethical Neutrality and the Role of ‘Professional’ Social Sciences
Max Weber´s sober inventory of academic life and his prophetic vision of its ‘Americanization’ highlight the impact of societies on scientific knowledge production and academic careers. Likewise, W...
Kopfarbeit für die Gesellschaft oder die „Gesellschaft im Kopf“. Klimaexperten, Klimaleugner und die Aktualität der Heidelberger Kontroverse um die gesellschaftliche Rolle von Wissenschaft
„Experten im (…) ublichen Verstandnis – als Bezeichnung eines ‚Sachverstandigen‘ (ursprunglich im 19. Jahrhundert: vor Gericht) – weisen sich als Experten aus insbesondere uber Zertifikate, die ihnen Kompetenzen (Kenntnisse und Fahigkeiten) bescheinigen, welche sie sich uber eine relativ voraussetzungsvolle, lang dauernde und inhaltlich umfangreiche Ausbildung – in typischerweise ‚offentlichen‘ Einrichtungen – erworben haben“ (Hitzler 1994, S. 14).