Abstract
The current corona pandemic disrupts the entire world like and threatens not only public health, but our economies, social relations, democracies, rule of law, mental well-being and more. While we may have more understanding of the Sars-Cov-2 virus than half a year ago, much of what it does and how to combat it is still uncertain, despite a dazzling amount of research on it. That may be logical when new issues arise, but the situation is complicated by the fact that this quest for truthful knowledge about the virus is entangled with various (geo)political dynamics, government policy pressures, media reporting, platform moderation and public understandings of it all. It is therefore quite unclear what information is reliable, which experts to follow and what (epistemic) authorities to trust. Science and Technology Scholars are perfectly equipped with concepts, theories and methods to help us understand these complex dynamics, and guide us through the fog of uncertainty and manipulation. Yet they seem remarkably absent in public and scientific debates. What is going on?
Highlights
That many European countries face rising numbers of Sars-Cov-2 infections and governments installed renewed lockdowns and other severe mitigation measures, public discussions about what to do gain much traction and urgency again
How should we assess and evaluate the various answers to this burning question? How do we compare the course of this pandemic across different contexts with different social, cultural, demographic and political characteristics that obviously influence the impact the crisis?
Pielke Jr. (2007) insightful work on the multiple roles to choose from as scientists depending on the degree of scientific and political consensus around a certain issue, STS’ers could take the role of the “honest broker” given the high knowledge and value uncertainty of how to best deal with the current corona crisis
Summary
The current corona pandemic disrupts the entire world like and threatens public health, but our economies, social relations, democracies, rule of law, mental well-being and more. That may be logical when new issues arise, but the situation is complicated by the fact that this quest for truthful knowledge about the virus is entangled with various (geo)political dynamics, government policy pressures, media reporting, platform moderation and public understandings of it all It is quite unclear what information is reliable, which experts to follow and what (epistemic) authorities to trust. STS scholars could contribute greatly to such complex discussions between various publics, experts and authorities in which knowledge, politics and values are so intimately intertwined They can help move public debate beyond prevalent simplistic oppositions between science vs politics, facts vs opinions, information vs manipulation, solidarity vs freedom, public health vs economy, lockdowns vs viral explosion. STS’ers seem nowhere to be found in current public and political debates on the corona crisis
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