Expertise in risk society and its transformation: Focusing on the concept of "evidence"

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20196
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0108:Sociology and related fields
• Research Institution: Seijo University
• Principal Investigator: Matsumura Kazushi 成城大学, 文芸学部, 専任講師 (70909358)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: リスク社会 / エビデンス / 専門知 / 信頼

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The polarization of trust and distrust toward expertise is one of the several features of the risk society. In this regard, Ulrich Beck has pointed out that stronger dependence on the scientific argument brings about a denial of specific scientific opinion, which experts propose. In this study, I reconsidered Beck’s theoretical hypothesis empirically from the view of historical sociology and refined it, focusing on the concept of “scientific evidence,” an essential element of the scientific argument. As a result, it is shown that diversification of the concept of “evidence,” both inside and outside of science, generates a systematic gap between the two and interrupts the diffusion of scientific opinion.

Free Research Field

科学社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

リスク社会論においては、リスクの取り扱いに関する経験的分析が進められ、科学の内部と外部の関係も研究されてきた。しかし、科学の外部における真偽判定の基準については、明らかになっていない部分が大きい。本研究は、「証拠」および「科学的証拠」の概念に着目することで、科学の内部と外部の真偽判定のズレやその形成過程を明らかにした。以上の作業はまた、専門知への不信にどう対応していくかという今日的問題に取り組むための重要な判断材料を提供する意味を持つ。