Dim and Dimmer: an Exploration of The
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DIM AND DIMMER: AN EXPLORATION OF THE PRODUCTION AND DIFFUSION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN AUSTRALIA BETWEEN THE 1770s AND THE 2010s Lynnette Hicks BSocSc (Hons) MQU Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia January 2016 1 Statement of Originality: This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Lynnette Hicks January 2016 2 “Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” Carl Sagan (from Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space) 3 Dedication: To Paul Meszaros without whom I am lost To Ken Henson without whom this project is lost And to my sons Clark Hicks-Jenkinson and Connor Jenkinson without whom I am incomplete 4 Acknowledgements: Perhaps this journey started when I was a little kid roaming around our large suburban backyard and exploring the bush and the creek behind our house. Or perhaps it was when, as a young adult working in the advertising industry, I was captivated by Eric the opalised pliosaur from South Australia looking for a home in the Australian Museum. Either way my foundational experiences created within me a love of the natural world and a fascination for all things science. I want to thank my partner Paul Meszaros for sensing that fascination, appreciating that unfulfilled yearning within me, and so inviting me to join him and Andrew Simpson in the world of science. I didn’t even know conodonts, neutrinos, bosons or fermions existed when I first met you! I also want to thank those scientists in the Faculty of Science at Macquarie University who, unbeknownst to them, were vital mentors in my journey to understanding; and Ken Cussen, that argumentative philosopher friend of mine who never (well, hardly ever) lets me get away with anything! To my amazing sons Clark Hicks-Jenkinson and Connor Jenkinson who have really only ever known their mother as a student and have been so patient (and not so patient sometimes) with me trying out my ideas on them! Thanks guys! Thanks also go to Michael Fine who was there from literally day one of my undergraduate degree and who acted as my mentor as I struggled as a mature age student to come to grips with the art of writing essays and to understand those tricky sociological concepts. A big thanks also to Ben Spies-Butcher who took me on as a raw undergraduate and turned me into an Honours scholar. You are the best! 5 To Eleanor Druitt who has always been there with me on an often difficult journey through life and who encouraged me to keep going when I thought I would never finish this thesis. To Kirsten Oataway who has walked every step with me since 1999 when I decided to go back to university, and to Kim Rusten and Pam Stewart, who are my guardian angels. Also thanks to Lyn Ryan, my uni cheers squad who continued to believe that I could finish this tome. And to all my HDR peers and to my undergraduate students at Macquarie University who have been genuinely interested in my progress to completion. Thank you for keeping me sane! And lastly but mostly, a huge thank you to the most amazing supervisor a PhD student could ever have, Tobia Fattore! It really has been, for me, learning at the feet of the master. You used every trick in the book to bring out the best in my thinking, my arguments and my writing. Your knowledge of theory and its application is incredible. I do hope you are well satisfied with your apprentice! 6 Abstract: Despite growing public concerns around socio-scientific problems and the significance of these problems to everyday life, there is a dearth of sociological literature addressing the production and diffusion of the natural sciences in Australia. In particular, critical analyses of scientific knowledge production and diffusion relative to the actions of the state, the market and civil society are largely absent. This thesis sets out to mitigate this situation by contributing a critical historiography of scientific knowledge production and diffusion as it relates to Australia since white settlement. It is anticipated that this work will open up the topic for further academic research and rational debate. This thesis explores the production and diffusion of scientific knowledge through the lens of social dynamics that have emerged in Australia between the 1770s and the 2010s. The research relies primarily on the theoretical work of Max Weber in order to identify and analyse the conception of rationality and its application to social action that is present in the policy and praxis of the natural sciences in Australia. In particular, the relationships between the state, the market and civil society are analysed using secondary data drawn from published histories, official documents and the formal policies and practices of the state and the market during this period. A tripartite analytical model has been created specifically for this thesis and is utilised to trace scientific knowledge production and diffusion through the transformative social processes associated with instrumentalism, bureaucratisation, developmentalism, environmentalism, postmodernism and neoliberalism. Rationality is applied in three ways: as non-instrumental science produced to further human understandings of the natural world and to promote the development of civil society; as pre-instrumental science produced by the state to in order to develop markets and for other instrumental 7 purposes such as national defence strategies; and as instrumental scientific knowledge produced by the participants in the market expressly to enhance their own position in the market. The research reveals that instrumental rationality has been an enduring concept in the policy and praxis of the natural sciences in Australia. Moreover, this thesis finds that a strong tension is often present between non-instrumental notions of scientific knowledge and those practices that are predominantly instrumental. Through each of the periods studied the state and the market have been close confederates, often working together to realise instrumental outcomes through the knowledge produced by natural science. In particular, administrative and economic ends are seen to be primary; ends associated with more normative intentions, such as the nurturing of civil society, have been regularly overlooked in favour of strictly instrumental aspirations. This continuing instrumentality has altered the relationships between the state, the market and civil society during each period studied. On the current trajectory, the policy and praxis of the natural sciences in Australia may yet begin to compromise the sovereignty of that nation state and the authority of its citizenry. 8 List of figures: 2.1: Tripartite model: three ideal types of scientific knowledge production 48 3.1: Relationships between scientific institutions: 1790-1830 114 3.2: The stated aims and objectives of the four societies 129 4.1: Tripartite analytical model of scientific knowledge production 158 4.2: The production and diffusion of scientific knowledge in NSW: Geology and Mining 1830-1910 198 4.3: The production and diffusion of scientific knowledge in NSW: Pastoralism and Agriculture 1830-1910 206 7.1: Scientific staff employed by the Australian Museum 339 8.1: The Australian Science System 395 8.2: Australian Government support for science, research and innovation 400 8.3: Higher education expenditure on R&D, by type of activity 402 8.4: Business expenditure on R&D, by type of activity 403 8.5: Government expenditure on R&D, by type of activity 404 8.6: Private non-profit expenditure on R&D, by type of activity 405 8.7: Total expenditure on R&D (HERD, GERD, PERD & BERD) 406 8.8: Main components of the Australian Innovation System in 2004 408 List of tables: 1.1: Epistemological groupings, search terms and formal research material 21 1.2: Documentary data, sources and search areas 23 7.1 Key moments in Australian arts and cultural policy development 319 7.2 List of Ministries or Departments administering Australian Museum 334 8.1 List of acronyms used in the Australian Science System 396 9 1 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 The research project.......................................................................................................................... 17 1.2 The empirical framework of the thesis .............................................................................................. 26 2 THEORETICAL OVERVIEW.................................................................................................. 31 2.1 Rationality and the rationalisation of the social world ...................................................................... 33 2.2 Weber’s typology of social action ...................................................................................................... 42 2.3 Constructing