The Context(s) of Precaution: Ideological and Instrumental Appeals to the Precautionary Principle

Abstract

This article contributes to the clarification of the concept of precaution and its function in social debate. The authors compare the uses of precaution in science and technology—related conflicts (as indicated by an analysis of media reports on precaution) with data from a survey on precaution and the role of science in decision making. While the survey data confirm the existence of opposing “idealized” or “ideological” conceptualizations of the role of science in regulatory decisions, the analyzed media reports show an added degree of complexity on the level of social dynamics. The media analysis identifies an instrumental use of the concept of precaution in social debate, which is independent of “ideological” positions on precaution, and serves as a way of empowerment for social actors critical of scientific-technological proposals, allowing them to counterbalance information asymmetries.