Science is part of society
Science is part of society. Researchers contribute to societal change through their work.
Science provides the knowledge required for technological achievements, societal debates and political decision-making processes. Expectations as to what role science should play in these areas can vary greatly. This can lead to heated debates, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example.
A common understanding, especially in the field of science itself, is that researchers should provide decision-relevant knowledge (“policy-relevant”) but not anticipate what political decisions should look like (“policy-prescriptive”). For example, they point out options for action with their respective advantages and disadvantages or potential consequences, but refrain from making statements about what should be politically desirable. In reality, the boundaries between policy-relevant and policy-prescriptive are usually blurred.
Some researchers see their expertise as giving them a social responsibility to call for political action. In this sense, researchers in the 1970s and 1980s, for example, drew attention to the threat to the ozone layer posed by hydrofluorocarbons because they were concerned about human health. Today, researchers are becoming increasingly politically active in connection with climate change, sometimes even engaging in civil disobedience.
It is important that researchers are aware of the societal relevance of their work, which societal or political objectives a research project should address, and which roles they take on in their exchange with society. This needs to be considered and compared time and again.
The following questions arise:
|