The Changing Governance of Science?

Abstract

In this chapter I look at some aspects of natural science governance that defined the social contract for science after the Second World War. I then focus on some aspects of natural scientists’ perceptions of the changes that have taken place in the more recent period and how they have tried to influence and manage change. This discussion includes some preliminary observations on the ways in which the interaction of new and old approaches to governance has combined to shape contemporary governance. In developing this analysis I draw on aspects of STS, SSK and social science theory as a means to explore governance. Beyond SSK, a novel reading and combination of Erving Goffman and (more critically) John Rawls is used to interrogate the performative work of natural scientists who were drawn into public engagement and deliberative exercises during the New Labour years.