Reconsidering the 'post-truth critique': Scientific controversies and pandemic responses in Brazil
View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.The study argues that "post-truth politics" does not automatically democratize knowledge. Examining COVID-19 policies in Brazil, it finds that political actors claimed to represent superior scientific evidence rather than rejecting science outright.
Area Of Science
- Science and Technology Studies (STS)
- Political Science
- Public Health
Background
- Science and Technology Studies (STS) faces criticism for undermining scientific authority and contributing to 'anti-science movements'.
- The concept of 'post-truth politics' is often linked to the erosion of factual discourse and the rise of populism.
- The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted complex interactions between scientific expertise, public health policy, and political discourse.
Purpose Of The Study
- To challenge the notion that 'post-truth politics' inherently leads to epistemic democratization.
- To analyze how political actors engage with scientific authority and evidence, particularly within the context of public health crises.
- To explore the relationship between far-right politics and scientific institutions using conceptual tools from STS.
Main Methods
- Qualitative analysis of testimonies and debates from the 2021 Brazilian parliamentary inquiry into the government's COVID-19 response.
- Examination of how scientific authority and expertise were contested and claimed by different political factions.
- Application of STS conceptual frameworks to understand the enactment of scientific knowledge in political practice.
Main Results
- Actors accused of 'science denial' did not reject scientific authority but positioned themselves as critical thinkers exposing political bias.
- Political allies of Jair Bolsonaro claimed to be supported by credible, unbiased experts, asserting their adherence to the best available scientific evidence.
- The study suggests that opposition to established scientific consensus was framed as a defense of superior scientific evidence, not an anti-science stance.
Conclusions
- 'Post-truth politics' does not necessarily equate to epistemic democratization; instead, it can involve strategic claims to superior scientific evidence.
- STS conceptual tools are crucial for understanding how political actors navigate and contest scientific authority and knowledge.
- Further investigation is needed into the distribution of expertise, accumulation of authority, and enactment of scientific knowledge across diverse fields of practice in political contexts.
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