Science and democracy: the transformation of the ideals of knowledge

Abstract

We experience a contradiction between the image of “classical” science that comes to us from the past – objective, disinterested and neutral – and the so-called “post-academic science” – influenced by two categories of stakeholders, financial and social, often conflicting. Today, science presents itself on the one hand as co-responsible for environmental emergencies, and on the other as capable of identifying damage, preventing it and indicating repair interventions. In this new scenario, the role of citizen science is important, although war scenarios could weaken it, silencing society and science itself – as always happens when research decisions pass through the military apparatus.