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Science and the Politics of Openness

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Science and the Politics of Openness Science and the politics of openness Science and the politics of openness Here be monsters Edited by Brigitte Nerlich, Sarah Hartley, Sujatha Raman and Alexander Smith Manchester University Press Copyright © Manchester University Press 2018 While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester University Press, copyright in individual chapters belongs to their respective authors. This electronic version has been made freely available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction provided the author(s) and Manchester University Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Published by Manchester University Press Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 5261 0646 9 hardback ISBN 978 1 5261 0647 6 open access First published 2018 The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Typeset by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Contents List of figures and tables page viii List of contributors ix Introduction – Brigitte Nerlich, Sujatha Raman, Sarah Hartley, Alexander Thomas T. Smith 1 Coda: reflections on the politics of openness in a new world order – Alexander Thomas T. Smith 12 Part I Transparency 1 Transparency – Benjamin Worthy 23 2 Open access: the beast that no-one could – or should – control? – Stephen Curry 33 3 Assuaging fears of monstrousness: UK and Swiss initiatives to open up animal laboratory research – Carmen M. McLeod 55 4 What counts as evidence in adjudicating asylum claims? Locating the monsters in the machine: an investigation of faith-based claims – Roda Madziva and Vivien Lowndes 75 Part II Responsibility 5 Responsibility – Barbara Prainsack and Sabina Leonelli 97 vi Contents 6 Leviathan and the hybrid network: Future Earth, co-production and the experimental life of a global institution – Eleanor Hadley Kershaw 107 7 ‘Opening up’ energy transitions research for development – Alison Mohr 131 8 Monstrous regiment versus Monsters Inc.: competing imaginaries of science and social order in responsible (research and) innovation – Stevienna de Saille and Paul Martin 148 Part III Expertise 9 Expertise – Mark B. Brown 169 10 Disentangling risk assessment: new roles for experts and publics – Sarah Hartley and Adam Kokotovich 176 11 Monstrous materialities: ash dieback and plant biosecurity in Britain – Judith Tsouvalis 195 12 An Inconvenient Truth: a social representation of scientific expertise – Warren Pearce and Brigitte Nerlich 212 13 ‘Science Matters’ and the public interest: the role of minority engagement – Sujatha Raman, Pru Hobson-West, Mimi E. Lam and Kate Millar 230 Part IV Faith 14 Faith – Chris Toumey 253 15 Re-examining ‘creationist’ monsters in the uncharted waters of social studies of science and religion – Fern Elsdon-Baker 259 16 Playing God: religious influences on the depictions of science in mainstream movies – David A. Kirby and Amy C. Chambers 278 Contents vii Afterword: monstrous markets – neo-liberalism, populism and the demise of the public university – John Holmwood and Jan Balon 303 Epilogue: publics, hybrids, transparency, monsters and the changing landscape around science – Stephen Turner 322 Index 333 Figures and tables Figure 16.1 Pamphlet on the creationist origins of Jurassic Park’s dinosaurs disseminated by the Southwest Radio Church. 292 Table 10.1 A framework for public involvement in risk assessment 189 Contributors Jan Balon is Lecturer at the Institute of Sociological Studies, Charles University in Prague and Head of Department and Researcher at the Centre for Science, Technology and Society Studies, Czech Academy of Sciences. With Marek Skovajsa, he is author of Sociology in the Czech Republic: Between East and West (Palgrave, 2017). Mark B. Brown is professor in the Department of Political Science at California State University, Sacramento. He is the author of Science in Democracy: Expertise, Institutions, and Representation (MIT Press, 2009), and various publications on the politics of expertise, political representation, bioethics, climate change and related topics. Amy C. Chambers is a research associate in science communication and screen studies at Newcastle University, working on an AHRC- funded project that seeks to map the history of imagined futures in speculative fiction. Her publications examine the intersection of science, religion, and entertainment media, and also science fiction and horror film/TV. Stephen Curry is a professor of structural biology at Imperial College London. An active blogger and campaigner, he writes regularly in the Guardian and elsewhere about open access and the larger social responsibilities of scientists. Stephen is a member of the board of both Science is Vital and the Campaign for Science and Engineering. Stevienna de Saille is currently a research fellow in the Institute for the Study of the Human at the University of Sheffield, studying genome x Contributors editing, the human-tissue bioeconomy and responsible innovation through the lens of heterodox economics. She was a research fellow on the Leverhulme Trust project Making Science Public, studying the emergence of responsible research and innovation. Fern Elsdon-Baker is a professor and the Director of the Centre for Science, Knowledge and Belief in Society at Newman University, Birmingham, and the principal investigator on the Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum project. Previously she was head of the British Council’s Darwin Now project, which ran in fifty countries worldwide. Eleanor Hadley Kershaw is a doctoral researcher in science and technology studies at the Institute for Science and Society, University of Nottingham. Her PhD is funded by the Leverhulme Trust as part of the Making Science Public programme. Her background is in English literature, theatre/performance, sustainability, environment and international science policy. Sarah Hartley is a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter Business School, where she researches science, technology and innovation governance. Her current work examines the role of publics and experts – in the development of genetically modified insects, in gene drive and in genome editing – in areas of global health, sustainable agriculture and food security. Pru Hobson-West has expertise in medical sociology, science and technology studies, and ethics. Her work focuses on controversies such as childhood vaccination and animal experimentation. Pru also leads work in the emerging field of veterinary sociology. She is based at the Centre for Applied Bioethics in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham. John Holmwood is Professor of Sociology at the University of Not- tingham. He is the founder of the Campaign for the Public University. He blogs regularly on higher-education issues for the Campaign for the Public University, Research Blogs, Open Democracy and other venues. His current research addresses issues of pragmatism and public sociology. He co-edits the free online magazine Discover Society. David A. Kirby is Senior Lecturer in Science Communication Studies at the University of Manchester. His book Lab Coats in Hollywood Contributors xi (MIT Press, 2013) examines the collaborations between scientists and the entertainment industry. He is currently writing the book Indecent Science, which will explore the historic interactions between science, religion and movie censorship. Adam Kokotovich is a postdoctoral research associate at the Uni- versity of Minnesota, studying invasive-species risk assessment and management. An interdisciplinary social scientist, he is interested in highlighting and opening to reflexive scrutiny the assumptions that inform decision making related to science, risk and the environment. Mimi E. Lam is a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Bergen, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities. She specialises in seafood ethics and sustainability, marine governance, and the science–policy interface. She studies values, beliefs and perceptions of nature to inform societal decision making for a sustainable and just future. Sabina Leonelli is Professor in Philosophy and History of Science and Co-Director of the Exeter Centre for the Study of the Life Sciences at the University of Exeter. Her current research focuses on the philosophy, history and sociology of data-intensive science, especially the research processes, scientific outputs and social embedding of open science, open data and big data. Vivien Lowndes is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham. She was Deputy Chair of the Politics and International Studies Sub-Panel for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. Vivien’s research interests focus on local governance and community engage- ment. She is author (with Mark Roberts) of Why Institutions Matter (Palgrave, 2013). Roda Madziva is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham. Her research focuses on understanding the associa- tion between immigration policies and migrants’ lived experiences. She has worked on the use of evidence in immigration policy as part of
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