Citizens as Concerned but Knowledge-Poor Watchdogs: Attributions of Legitimacy to Social Actors in the Management of Biotechnology Issues

Abstract

The concepts of participation and deliberation have been invested with strong symbolic weight in the field of science education and, more specifically, in the teaching of socio-scientific issues (SSIs). However, the teaching of socio-scientific issues has not yet emerged as the "natural" or "self-obvious" place for focusing attention on the socio-political management of socio-scientific issues. In the first section of this chapter, I outline a number of conceptual contributions originating in political philosophy, a field that has engaged in sustained reflection concerning the participation of ordinary citizens in the deliberations surrounding socio-political decision making. In the second section, I present the viewpoints of post-secondary/pre-university students (who are also training to become primary or secondary school teachers) concerning the management of socio-scientific issues. I also provide illustrations of how these students describe the roles played by various actors - citizens, industry, government, and members of the scientific community. In the third section, I identify the opportunities offered by these descriptions for redistributing legitimacy and re-examining the modalities of citizen participation in the management of socio-scientific issues.