Citizen science or Citizens Sciences? Four Models of Participation in Science and Technology
Javier Gómez-Ferri · 2014
Active participation and engagement of citizens in matters of science, technology and technoscience have increased significantly in the last decade. This expansion has led to an increased use of the term “citizen science”. However, this expression is employed in an indiscriminate way. This makes it more socially attractive than academically useful. We can distinguish two main types of “citizen science”: one is activist and more critical, while the other is amateur, yet more integrated. However, their forms and manifestations are quite heterogeneous. This heterogeneity makes it difficult to devise a theoretical framework to explain this phenomenon. This is also reflected in the lack of a more precise terminology that would allow us to go beyond the mere description of the asymmetry with which knowledge is produced and distributed in society, and of the political and symbolic effects of this asymmetry. In this paper I first review the history of the phenomenon of citizen science in its social context. Then, we offer a taxonomy of the several kinds of citizen science, understood as forms of collective action. Finally, we identify four theoretical models of social participation in science by combining its two basic dimensions: the political and the cognitive.