Rethinking the Social Contract between Science and Society: Steps to an Ecology of Science Communication

Abstract

Three key questions guide this thesis. First, how is public communication of science and technology (PCST) organized in different models of expert–public interaction? Second, how do different models of science and technology popularization frame science and technology narratives? Third, building on the first two questions, what are the implications of these models for the social contract between science and society? This thesis involves both an exploratory cross-case analysis of PCST and a comparative mixed-methods study. The case studies were conducted using a broad array of methods: reviewing policy documents, articles from 3 newspapers over 12–18 years, and the study of participation in experiments and new infrastructures for doing citizen science through documents, observations, and interviews. This thesis has eight crucial contributions to an improved understanding of public communication of science and technology. By critically examining the three science communication models, dissemination, dialogue and participation, the thesis makes five contributions: 1) a study of how public appreciation of science and technology are promoted by the use of bias; 2) a study of how public engagement with science and technology are promoted by mediatization processes; 3) a study of how researchers in their popularization activities promote critical understanding of science and technology being modest witnesses; 4) a study of the dialogue models’ room for participation in knowledge and policy construction processes; and 5) in studying the participation model, a better understanding of citizen science and boundary infrastructures. Finally, the thesis has three more general contributions: 6) it represents the first comprehensive examination of science communication policy in Norway; 7) focusing on technology, it links science communication research and innovation studies; and 8) it contributes to a more analytical approach studying the three science communication models as trading zones within the context of the Nordic model of science communication. The author is employed by Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo.