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Between citizen and consumer: multiplying the meanings of the "public understanding of science"

Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths' College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom, M.Michael{at}gold.ac.uk

This paper explores how the "public understanding of science" might be reconceptualized in light of the recent sociological treatments of consumption. I consider the implications that the rise of consumer culture and the increasing aesthetisization of everyday life have for micro-and macro-sociological studies in the public understanding of science. In particular, I examine how consumer culture impacts upon the status of the "lay local" and the nature of citizenship as they relate to the public understanding of science and scientific literacy. Further, I explore how the discourses and techniques of public understanding of science studies might contribute to the formulation of the lay person as consumer. Finally; in light of these points, I formulate a number of research questions that might enable the development of the "public understanding of science."

Public Understanding of Science, Vol. 7, No. 4, 313-327 (1998)
DOI: 10.1088/0963-6625/7/4/004


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