Science-related populism: Conceptualizing populist demands toward science

Abstract

Populism is on the rise in many countries. Scholars have stated that it is characteristic for political populism to describe society as a fundamental struggle between an allegedly virtuous people and political elites which are portrayed negatively. This anti-elitist sentiment not only targets politicians, however, but also other representatives of the alleged establishment—including scientists and scholarly institutions. But the specifics of such science-related populism have not yet been conceptualized. We aim to do so, integrating scholarship on political populism, the “participatory turn,” and alternative epistemologies. We propose to conceptualize science-related populism as a set of ideas which suggests that there is a morally charged antagonism between an (allegedly) virtuous ordinary people and an (allegedly) unvirtuous academic elite, and that this antagonism is due to the elite illegitimately claiming and the people legitimately demanding both science-related decision-making sovereignty and truth-speaking sovereignty.

Psychological underpinnings of pandemic denial - patterns of disagreement with scientific experts in the German public during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…There is also evidence that anti-elitism more generally extends towards other important groups within society, especially journalists (Krämer, 2014) and scientists (Mede & Schäfer, 2020). For example, supporters of populist parties report lower trust in knowledge-based institutions (Saarinen et al, 2019).…”

Desinformação e mensagens sobre a hidroxicloroquina no Twitter: da pressão política à disputa científica

“…Essa crise política está alinhada a uma agenda de descrença sobre as comunidades epistêmicas como uma das marcas do atual governo federal, em que instituições promotoras ou disseminadoras de conhecimento são alvos de descrédito ou desconfiança, entre elas a mídia e a ciência (Albuquerque & Quinan, 2019;Oliveira, 2020). Tal descrença sobre a ciência como projeto político tem sido entendido como parte de um fenômeno chamado de populismo relacionado à ciência (Mede & Schäfer, 2020), no qual um conjunto de ideias e valores sugere um antagonismo moralmente carregado contra instituições científicas, supostamente corrompidas por suas relações exógenas à ciência como, por exemplo, a indústria farmacêutica.…”

Activists as “alternative” science communicators — Exploring the facets of science communication in societal contexts

“…anti-vaccine campaigns [Kata, 2012] -draws attention to the critical role that activism can play for science communication. Misleading science criticism by populist movements [Mede and Schäfer, 2020], the adaptation of counter science strategies by global pressure groups, and scientistic exaltation and uncritical propagation of science by social movements [Haack, 2011] can threaten positive public perceptions and the legitimacy of science.…”