Del déficit al diálogo, ¿y después?: Una reconstrucción crítica de los estudios de comprensión pública de la ciencia

Resumen

This paper presents a critical analysis of the current research programmes in the field of\nPublic Understanding of Science: the well-known public deficit model, and the\nethnographic-contextual approach. I begin by examining their respective contributions to\nthe definition of the main interests and questions that shapes the scene, and I will\nchallenge the widespread view that considers that the original frame has been\nsuperseded once and for all. Contrary to this belief, I will argue that its persistence as a\nmajor focus of conceptual debates has led the discipline to a standstill, consequence of\ncarrying on ascribing cognitive deficit the status of an unsolved problem. Against this, I\nwill propone an alternative approach that assumes the epistemic asymmetry between\nexperts, publics and interface agents as an objective initial condition of the interactions\nthrough which scientific knowledge can be socially shared. The paper closes suggesting\na set of original questions that arises from this shift, which may contribute to the\ndevelopment of a new agenda for future research.