Description
Book SynopsisPublic trust in the scientific community is under extraordinary pressure. Crucial areas of human activity and public policy, such as education, universities, climate and health care are influenced by populist political strategies rather than evidence-based solutions. Moreover, data-driven methods are becoming increasingly subject to delegitimization. This book examines potential remedies for improving public trust and the legitimacy of science. It reviews different policy approaches adopted by governments to incentivize the empowerment of stakeholders through co-production arrangements, participatory mechanisms, public engagement and interaction between citizens and researchers. Offering an original analysis of the political roots of the governmental impact and engagement agenda, this book sheds much-needed light on the wider connections to democracy.
Table of ContentsChapter 1 - Introduction: Science and Democracy A crisis of public trust in science Knowledge systems in a populist era Overview of the book Chapter 2 - Public Engagement: Concept, Practice and Rhetoric Public engagement: a slippery concept Conclusions Chapter 3 - The Entrepreneurial State The New Public Management A critique of New Public Management The case of the adoption of New Public Management in the 1990s in Italy Citizens' Charter of Education Conclusions Chapter 4 - The Engaged State: Bringing Citizens In Citizen science Collaborative governance in the new millennium and citizens as co-producers The ecological citizen Youth public engagement with sustainability Conclusions Chapter 5 - Working with Schools and the Case of Ecological Citizenship Education for sustainable development in Italy Adoption of mandatory civic education in schools Operational concerns from the street level Discussion and analysis Conclusions Chapter 6 - Universities and Civic Engagement The 'old' universities and their social embeddedness The 'new' entrepreneurial university Higher education landscape reforms: the marketization agenda The 'engaged' university Public universities at a crossroads Conclusions Chapter 7 - Rethinking the Public Scientist Citizen science Public engagement: the concept Public engagement: the contradictions Public engagement: the benign rhetoric
