Call for chapters

Deadline: April 15, 2021

A re-occurring and dominant theme in public debates is how to understand and talk about controversies pertaining to science and the environment. As Covid-19, climate change and controversial new technologies are pushed forward on the international political agenda, dilemmas of how humans interact with nature, technologies, capital and each other once again become ever more present in public debate. This puts into question well-known as well as new quandaries on the current and future role of science in society. On the one hand, political actors rely on science to produce the facts and evidence required as inputs in decision-making. On the other hand, the privileged position of science to provide the answers is increasingly challenged in the public domain in the face of scientific uncertainty, complexity and disagreement.

The anthology Constructed facts, contested truths will address the question of how media represent and contribute to the construction of facts and knowledge in relation to science and environment controversies. Recent developments in social and digital media have in particular raised the issue of factuality and truths in public debate. Questions on how to maintain scientific integrity in an increasingly politicized environment are brought forward and accentuated by social and digital media. While authors in the field either endorse or take issue with the notion of post-truth, the question still remains how to make sense of the circulations of conflicting facts in current public debates on pandemics, climate-change, pollution, vaccination, food safety and many other areas. This calls for a need to understand the role of media in conveying, spreading, contesting and constructing facts and truths about science and the environment controversies.

The proposed chapters can theoretically, analytically and empirically address the question of how facts are presented, circulated and constructed with an emphasis on:

• Analysis of the construction of truths and facts in media and public debate
• The role of social media in constructing facts within digital networks of communication
• Visualisations of science and environmental information, debates and facts
• Public contestations of scientific doxa
• Populism and polarisation in science and environment communication
• The role played by facts and the presentations of truths in deliberative or radical democratic processes in relation to science and environment decisions
• Issues of public trust in and the legitimization of key actors (e.g. public authorities, industry, media) in fact-making processes
• The role of digital literacy and journalists as educators for increasing public environmental engagement
• Non-western and feminist perspectives on science and the environment are particularly welcome

Time frame:

• 15th of April 2021
• 14th of May 2021: Submission of book proposal (Emerald Publishing)
• 30th of November 2021: Final chapters due
• Publication in 2022

Organisers: The ECREA Section on Science and Environmental Communication. Mette Marie Roslyng, Shai Kassirer and Anna Maria Jönsson

Please submit a 300 word abstract before 15th of April 2021, include name, affiliation and chapter keywords to: mmroslyng@hum.aau.dk