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Cultural Boundaries of Science: Credibility on the Line

Whalley, Peter, Gieryn, Thomas F.·2001·Contemporary Sociology
DOI 10.2307/2654345
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Abstract

Why is so credible? Usual answers centre on scientists' objective methods or their powerful instruments. This text argues that a better explanation for the cultural authority of lies downstream, when scientific claims leave laboratories and enter courtrooms, boardrooms, and living rooms. On such occasions, we use to decide who to believe - cultural maps demarcating from pseudoscience, ideology, faith, or nonsense. Thomas F. Gieryn looks at episodes of boundary-work: Was phrenology good science? How about cold fusion? Is social really scientific? Is organic farming? After centuries of disputes like these, Gieryn finds no stable criteria that absolutely distinguish from non-science. Science remains a pliable cultural space, flexibly reshaped to claim credibility for some beliefs while denying it to others. In an epilogue, Gieryn finds this same controversy at the heart of the raging science wars.

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Metadata

Authors
Whalley, P., & Gieryn, T. F.
Venue
Contemporary Sociology
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2001-01
Volume
30
Issue
1
Pages
51
ISSN
0094-3061 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2307/2654345
OpenAlex
W2017721266
Cited by
1,244
References
0
FWCI
372.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

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