624
Scientific Citizenship: A Systemic Approach.
Abstract Submissions Closed
RC51 Sociocybernetics (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
Although there is no general academic agreement on the notion of citizen society, it is possible to assess that it refers to citizens’ right and duties in knowledge-based societies.
More specifically, scientific citizenship refers to the citizens’ right and, at the same time duty to acquire a scientific mastery, knowledge of the progresses achieved in the main scientific branches (medicine, engineering, physics etc.) and openness to innovation policies, in order to effectively carry out active citizenship activities: elections, activism, lobbying and even direct contribution to scientific progress (citizen science).
The point is that nowadays, while astonishing have so far been scientific and technological progresses, citizens’ competences and interests are incredibly distant from the requirements of a knowledge-based society. On the contrary, deep is the mistrust towards science, which is perceived as biased by strong financial interests; furthermore, electoral programs of many political forces openly aim at reducing the importance of the competences and the skills that a knowledge-based society requires.
As a consequence, in order to strengthen the openness to knowledge and innovation in contemporary societies, complex development policies are necessary, who consider the the multi-disciplinary aspects (technological, cultural and political) that characterize phenomena related to scientific citizenship.
This panel welcomes papers, both theoretical and empirical, that adopt the systemic approach to deal with issues related to scientific citizenship.