Descripción del proyecto
AS RECENT TRENDS ON THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF SCIENCE HAVE RIGHTLY EMPHASIZED, AUDIENCES AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE FOR THE LEGITIMISATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN MODERN SOCIETIES. IN THAT CONTEXT, SCIENCE POPULARISATION BECOMES A FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS FOR THE MAKING OF EXPERTISE, AND A CRUCIAL FACTOR FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITY AND SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE (HILGARTNER (1990), SHAPIN (1990), GOLINSKI (1998), SHINN AND WHITLEY (1995)). IN THAT FRAMEWORK, THE SUBPROJECT WILL ANALYSE A GROUP OF EMBLEMATIC CASE STUDIES, IN WHICH SEVERAL SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS ATTEMPTED TO IMPOSE THEIR VIEWS IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY SPAIN IN ORDER TO GAIN AT THE END SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITY AMONG THEIR PEERS. WE AIM TO RECONSTRUCT SPECIFIC PLACES AND PRACTICES, IN WHICH THOSE ACTORS DEALT WITH CONTROVERSY AND AUTHORITY CLAIMS INSIDE AND BEYOND ACADEMIC WALLS. THESE RESULTS WILL ENRICH THE MAINSTREAM HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE POPULARIZATION OF SCIENCE IN THE EUROPEAN PERIPHERY, A SUBJECT WHICH HAS FOCUSED OUR INTEREST FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES IN RECENT YEARS (SEE: PAPANELOPOULOU NIETO PERDIGUERO, 2009)ACCORDING TO PETER WEINGART (WEINGART, 2001; MAASEN-WEINGART, 2005), MEDIA HAVE CONTAMINATED SCIENCE IN THE 20TH CENTURY. THERE IS A CONSTANT FEEDBACK BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND ITS POPULAR IMAGES, AN INTERACTION SO IMPORTANT THAT SOME SCIENTIFIC CONTROVERSIES REMAIN HOPELESS TRAPPED IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE. POPULAR MAGAZINES AS WELL AS FICTION BOOKS, CINEMA, RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS OR, MORE RECENTLY, THE WORLD WIDE WEB, CONTAIN FRAGMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE WHOSE LEGITIMACY IS CONNECTED WITH THE LOGIC OF THESE MEDIA. MOREOVER, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS DRAW UP EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES IN ORDER TO INFLUENCE THE SELECTION AND MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INFORMATION PUBLISHED IN THE MEDIA. IN THAT CONTEXT, WEINGART ARGUES THAT PUBLIC REPUTATION HAS BECOME NOWADAYS A CRITERION OF TRUTH AND AUTHORITY, REACHING AN UNTIL-NOW UNSEEN IMPORTANCE IN THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY MASS MEDIA SOCIETY. OUR SUBPROJECT AIMS TO DEAL WITH THESE QUESTIONS BY MEANS OF DIFFERENT SOURCES AND A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL CASE STUDIES IN DIFFERENT CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXTS IN 20TH-CENTURY SPAIN.