From: Carmine Colacino <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: International Conference: Science and Democracy Date: Thu, Feb 1, 2001, 7:52 AM Dear Colleagues, Contributions will be considered also after the deadline (31 Jan. 2001). This is why I am sending this announcement to you. Contributions may be sent directly via e-mail at the address indicated below (not to me). For more information check the web site at: http://www.unibas.it/utenti/ogdc/scidem.html Best regards. C. Colacino ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANNOUNCEMENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici, Napoli International Conference SCIENZA E DEMOCRAZIA - SCIENCE AND DEMOCRACY Napoli, April 20-21, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Call for Papers ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scientific Committee F. Attena, E. Caccese, M. Mamone Capria Cooperation C. Colacino Secretariat: Address: Dipartimento di Matematica Università - 06123 Perugia Tel.: 39.75.5855006 Fax: 39.75.5855024 E-mail: [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction The aim of this conference is to re-open the debate on a theme whose relevance for everybody¹s life - and not only intellectual life - is by far superior to the theoretical and analytical effort spent on it today. The question of the democratic control on science, forcefully relaunched by the epistemologist Paul K. Feyerabend in the Seventies, is on the whole repressed in the present cultural atmosphere, partly because of automatic associations with notorious incidents of political stymying of research, like the Galileo and Lysenko affairs. However, it would be difficult to interpret these historical events in terms of a supposedly overpowering public opinion, since in fact the latter at most echoed decisions and condemnations made 'with closed doors', in the usual seats of power (cultural and not). More recently, instead, in Western democracies currents of opinion have developed - expressing themselves through public initiatives of individuals and groups - mainly related to concerns over health, environment, and the integrity of the human person: they have been occasioned, for instance, by the introduction of new systems of energy production and agriculture; technologies which are already in our dayly life (electric lines, portable phones); the legal definition of new scientific criteria of Œlife¹ and Œdeath¹; the absence or insufficience of official recognition of alternative medicines etc. That at present the relationship between citiziens and scientists - who often act as Œexperts¹ and consultants for political representatives - is not balanced enough to permit a genuine dialogue, is shown, on one hand, by the frequent appeals signed by Œexperts¹ and inviting fellow-citizens to free themselves from a supposedly endemic "scientific illiteracy", and on the other hand by the growing distrust of citizens towards the scientific community, suspected of collusion with powerful vested interests. It is clear that trying to dissolve the problem by confining the decisive discussions within privileged circles and pouring propaganda on anybody else, will have the only effect of widening the gap between scientists on one side, and the civil society supporting them and guaranteeing them a public role on the other. Therefore it is important to study how a space for substantial cognitive exchange can be created, equally distant from the refusal to be informed (rather rare) and attempts at indoctrination (far more frequent). An instance of the second kind is the identification - made to discredit lay criticism - between rejection of one technology, with rejection of the whole of technology, or indeed, science. But in order to solve the problem of the democratic control over scientific research, another problem has to be tackled first which is rarely thought of as connected to it, namely, that of the internal politics of the scientific communities. Although scientific knowledge ambitions to be free of political and ideological biases, it is a fact that it is a profoundly Œsocial¹ knowledge: it is produced by hierachically organized groups, which evaluate, award, and punish their own members, control in various fashions what opinions can be held or even just discussed in a public setting, and so on. This dimension of science has been for a too long time ignored by epistemologists and historians, but a new generation of scholars has started in the last two decades to offer interesting reconstructions of the social context of research, thus giving back to it that character of human activity which had been essentially erased in standard treatments. And as it is the case for state politics, the internal politics of the scientific communities cannot be understood if one neglects their Œforeign politics¹, that is, the relationship with society - political institutions, economic powers, media etc.; conversely, this relationship depends to a large extent on the aspirations of the communities, first of all the necessity of financial support for research projects which are more and more costly, and laden with social consequences which are at least in need of being seriously debated. Thus science is a meeting point, and sometimes a collision point, between demands of reassurance and problem solving, by the society at large, and group or individual aspirations, by its practitioners. For this reason, to analyse correctly the nexus between science and democracy there is need of different viewpoints and data, and the cooperation of different competences and experiences. The conference aims at investigating these two main areas in their different aspects, welcoming both theoretical elaborations and documented case studies. There will be two days, organized as follows: I. DEMOCRACY IN SCIENCE - The sociology of scientific communities - The making of a scientist, between method and specialism - Communication and reception of scientific results - Controversies in science - The judgement of the peers: research projects, papers, careers - Dissidence and emargination in science II. SCIENCE IN A DEMOCRACY - Public and private funds in scientific research - Technological applications and social consent - ŒExperts¹ and Œlaymen¹ in public debates - Teaching, popularizing, informing - Scientific rationality and its critics - Assessing science without being a scientist Participation Participation is free. Participants are invited to send their contributions, in a complete version, by 31 January, 2001, to the address cited above; length should be of 10-15 pages in A4 format, 12 points; it is warmly advised to send (by e-mail or diskette) the corresponding file, compiled with Word for Windows or with any other word processor which can be translated into it. All accepted contributions will be posted into the website of the conference. For this reason, even those interested people who may not be sure to be present at the conference are advised to send their contributions anyway. Italian and English are the preferred languages, but contributions in other (preferably neo-Latin) languages will also be considered. Because of limits in time, not all accepted contributions will be presented orally at the conference. Every participant will be informed within one month after the arrival of the paper whether it has been accepted or not, and, by February 28, 2001, whether it has been selected for the oral presentation. A volume of proceedings, containing a selection of the accepted contributions, is planned. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Dr Carmine Colacino - [log in to unmask] Herbarium Lucanum [HLUC] & Dept. of Biology University of Basilicata. 85100 Potenza, Southern Italy Tel. +39 0971205743; Fax +39 0971205742 http://www.unibas.it/utenti/colacino/mediterraneo.html