Speaker | Martin Bauer, Professor of Social Psychology and Research Methodology at the London School of Economics |
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Time | May 25, 2015 5:00pm - 6:30pm (Doors open at 4:30pm) |
Venue | National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, 4th Floor, Room 4A (ACCESS) |
Sponsor | GRIPS Innovation, Science and Technology Policy Program (GIST) |
Language | English |
Fee | Free (Pre-registraion required) |
Martin Bauer will discuss key ideas of his recent books 'Resistance - and the Practice of Rationality and 'Atoms, Bytes & Genes - public resistance and techno-scientific responses. Strategic technology encounters resistance in public opinion, and this resistance, rather than on a mechanistic model of push-pull, is more usefully modelled on an organic 'pain analogy': focussing attention; enhancing the 'bodily self-image', evaluating on-going activities and urging strategic adaptation of the mobilization effort. The particular puzzle in this context is the historical insignificance of resistence in the area of computer and information technology; is this a case of 'endogenous pain killers'? He will also talk about his attempts to construct cultural indicators of science on the basis of large scale, multi-national surveys of attitudes to science. This suggests, that a single model of public attitudes to science does not fit the cultural diversity, not even across Europe. He will end with some observations on the state of the cultural authority of science in the UK, in particular, after a former minister of education recently declared 'this country has head enough of experts'.