Dear British Sociological Association, It’s your annual conference this week. Hope you’re having fun. I’ve only been once (2007). Honestly, the whole thing frustrated me a bit and, also because it’s so expensive, I’ve not been back. My main memory was a giant, embarrassing “eh” silence after Latour’s keynote, then sitting by the river with … Continue reading »
Filed under sociology …
The Production of Nonknowledge
UCL’s Science and Society reading group discussed an interesting paper on the production of non-knowledge, what science decides not to look at, why and how. It’s interesting because the growing literature on the sociology of ignorance – e.g. agnotology – often sees it as a problem, but as this paper points out, it’s a routine … Continue reading »
Social construction of science
”The Knowledge Construction Union”, the IoE take to the streets, en mass. Saying science is a social construction does not amount to saying science is make believe. It puzzles me that this even needs saying, and yet it does, again and again and again. Just because something is socially constructed doesn’t mean it isn’t also … Continue reading »
Social scientists and trust in science
I’ll be talking at a Social Science Week event next Monday which asks how social scientists and government might work together to strengthen public trust in scientific evidence? Times Higher Magazine are partnering, and asked me to write a short piece on the topic for this week’s edition. I briefly ask why social scientists would want … Continue reading »
Book Review: Free Radicals
With his new book, Free Radicals, Michael Brooks has done something which surprised me: he’s produced a popular science version of Against Method. Against Method, if you don’t know it, is a philosophy of science book by Paul Feyerabend, published in 1975. It argued against the idea that science progressed through the application of a strict universal method, and … Continue reading »
David Kirby’s ‘Lab Coats in Hollywood’
Dinosaur model from the 19thC, still on display in a South London park. Verisimilitude. Good word, isn’t it? It’s one of my favourites. It means ‘the appearance of being true or real’. It’s not just a term for people who study semiotics: philosophers of science use it too (or at least Popper does), as a … Continue reading »
Social scientists and public accountability
This was originally published on social science space. I’m happy to admit it is a piece of rhetoric, designed to make a point. If you are interested in debating this more, I’m on the panel for a Guardian Higher Education livechat on research communication later today (or use the comments below, as ever). Every now … Continue reading »
Why Don’t You? A review of ‘Making is Connecting’
I’ve mentioned David Gauntlett’s new book, Making is Connecting, a few times recently: on my work blog, my knitting one, and on the Guardian’s Notes and Theories. It’s an interesting book worth talking about. It’s about the social meanings of creativity and 21st century maker cultures, be these makers of blogs, woolly cardigans, cupcakes, podcasts … Continue reading »
Imagining the communities of online science
As a researcher of science writing and science writers, I’m interested in the ideas science bloggers have about the communities they are part of. Bloggers being a reflexive lot, I have a growing collection of posts which discuss some of the issues involved here. Still, I want to go beyond the limited perspective provided by … Continue reading »
Handcrafting political discourse
I visited Ottawa last weekend, for the Extending Expertise conference. Walking around the center of town on Sunday morning, I spotted this flyer for the Green Party. Ottawa, May 1st 2011 I thought it was interesting not only because it referenced a Twitter hashtag, but that it left space to add a short message on … Continue reading »
