Guardians at the frontiers of science

Ingo Grabner

Wolfgang Reiter

pp. 67-104

in: Helga Nowotny, Hilary Rose (eds), Counter-movements in the sciences, Berlin, Springer, 1979

Abstract

The hegemony (1) of science, which has, for several centuries, served as a frame and signpost to the development of western society, is now increasingly challenged. The questioning of political decisions in the name of scientific necessity without democratic process; the growing discomfort with the conditions of living in an overtechnicized society; the resurgence of "irrational" practices and systems of belief; all these symptoms indicate that we may be witnessing a turning of the tide.