Patronising Joe Public
Article Abstract:
The way the UK government has handled the BSE scare is another example of the way in which it underestimates the public's rationality and understanding of risk and scientific uncertainty. It also reflects the way in which political responsibility has been deskilled as government has become increasingly dependent on scientific expertise in policy-making. This new culture leads to a patronization of public responses; a failure to acknowledge fully the open-ended nature of scientific knowledge; and selectivity of which kind of experts are acceptable as advisers.
Publication Name: Times Higher Education Supplement
Subject: Education
ISSN: 0049-3929
Year: 1996
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Bad news travelled too slowly
Article Abstract:
The UK's ongoing BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) inquiry has been told that the government's chief veterinary epidemiologist heard of the outbreak 21 months after it started and many scientists have been accused of failing to recognize the seriousness of the outbreak. The outbreak was widely publicized in 1996 but the first signs of BSE were first noted in 1985, when the apparent discovery of BSE in a cow was seen as inconclusive. It is estimated that the BSE crisis has cost the UK government some four billion pounds sterling.
Publication Name: Times Higher Education Supplement
Subject: Education
ISSN: 0049-3929
Year: 1998
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A watchdog in the garden; social sciences' role in evaluating environmental risks of scientific research
Article Abstract:
Scientists and social scientists often hold differing views about the social science role. Natural scientists argue that social science only comes into play after the scientific discovery, and is related to assumptions about social scientific factors. The radioactivity of Lake District sheep after exposure to Chernobyl fallout is taken as an example of this theory.
Publication Name: Times Higher Education Supplement
Subject: Education
ISSN: 0049-3929
Year: 1992
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