Abstract
This chapter analyszes the use of scientific concepts, observations, and models in their
intersection with values in policy-making, with examples. Though we refer mainly to the
experience of COVIDovid-19, the chapter goes beyond by describing how policy-making
uses scientific knowledge in different ways and in different contexts, but almost never
explicitly referring to underlying uncertainties, implicit values and assumptions. In addition
to dissecting mathematical models to describe the evolution of the pandemic, we also refer to
the historical evolution of the intertwining of science and values by referring to the pivotal
theories of Max Weber, and how they need to change in the current Anthropocene context.
We propose that politics or policy-making is the art of finding a balance between different
values (and interests) on the basis of the scientific evidence available at the time. Much has
changed since Weber’ times, and a radical separation between science and values is now
contradicted by facts, i.e. the increasing commitment of scientists on political grounds in the
wake of the environmental crisis. The Anthropocene reality can only be described as an
increasingly cultured nature, that is constantly reshaped and destabilized by the action of
human beings. This situation calls for a radical re-thinking of the relationships between
science and values in policy-making.
Lingua originale | Inglese |
---|---|
Titolo della pubblicazione ospite | The Politics of Modelling. Numbers between science and policy |
Editore | Oxford University Press |
Pagine | 167-184 |
Numero di pagine | 18 |
ISBN (stampa) | 9780198872412 |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2023 |
Keywords
- environmental crisis
- politics
- responsibility