Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 4 (2018), 444-452
DOI:10.17351/ests2018.259
The Responsibilities and Obligations of STS in a Moment of Post-Truth Demagoguery STEVE G. HOFFMAN UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 1
Abstract Scientific expertise and the free press have come under sustained partisan attack with the political ascendance of right-wing nationalism. This has put some science and technology studies (STS) scholars in the difficult position of defending the legitimacy of science while maintaining a characteristic agnosticism toward “the facts.” In this essay, inspired by a reading of Noortje Marres’s (2018) critique of fact-checking services, I seek to relieve some of the background anxiety I sense that perhaps STS research paved a path for the rise of right wing authoritarianism and “post-truth” politics. We are not dealing with a process of fact making in this environment, at least not of the scientific variety. Instead, we are dealing with political demagoguery. As scholars, we should therefore equip ourselves with the appropriate analytic and technological tools, and as many as possible, for engaging this political moment.
Keywords authoritarianism; demagoguery; fact checking; knowledge democracy; post-truth; scientific facts
Introduction Conservative populism mixed with a vengeful brand of white supremacy is making political headway across Europe and North America (Bonikowski 2017; Bhambra 2017; Gidron and Hall 2017). The European Union is in peril, trade wars are underway, the United Nations is under assault, and longstanding geo-political alliances in place among the Western democracies since World War II are up in the air. Meanwhile, political pundits and commentators warn us of another “constitutional crisis” on the horizon, seeming to forget the previous one as the news cycle moves on. Established scientific institutions and the free press in the United States are being actively de-legitimated. A climate change denialist, Scott Pruitt, who once called for the abolishment of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now runs it. Despite news reports that document his wasteful spending, conflicts of interest, and corruption, or perhaps because of these practices, President Donald Trump thinks he is doing a heck of a job. Trump
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Steve G. Hoffman, Email: steve.hoffman@utoronto.ca
Copyright © 2018 (Steve G. Hoffman). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at estsjournal.org.