‘It Is Not What You Think’: Science and Popular Culture in the Context of 2017 March for Science

The March for Science has been by far and large the biggest public performance of the public value of science. In its political contextualization of the critique of the Trump presidency, the march has launched a key reflection momentum about the relationship between science and civil society. While the reflections about the role of science for and in the civil society are not new, as they hit recently the headlines of science and technology studies (STS) in terms of ‘citizen science’ and ‘science slams’ and manifold popularization programs, the 2017 March for Science provided a unique stage to bring in artefacts of popular culture; among them T-shirts, internet memes, and posters that have been previously outside the public presentation of scientific practices.

By presenting a comprehensive analysis of the artefacts that appeared in the context of the March for Science the paper uses Strong Program in Cultural Sociology to show how these artefacts - while calling for affirmative and citizen-near image of science - display the gap between the cultural ascendency of science and its will to embrace civil society. The identity of science and scientists has been framed as being above society as their aim is to explain and to identify overarching rules of our everyday complexities. Yet science has been criticized for being detached from everyday life because of that. The straddling between these two views, apparent in the analysis, suggests that replacing science identity remains difficult unless we challenge to role of emotions in the public presentation of scientific practices. The paper uses the context of popular culture to demonstrate this.