{"id":2204,"date":"2020-06-07T13:57:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T13:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/husscovid.micheldurinx.opalstacked.com\/2020\/06\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/"},"modified":"2020-06-07T13:57:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T13:57:10","slug":"can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/","title":{"rendered":"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>By <a href=\"mailto:a.cassidy@exeter.ac.uk\">Angela Cassidy<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>There are many parallels between the UK\u2019s response to the arrival of COVID-19 in recent months and its much longer policy history of grappling with bovine tuberculosis. In particular, both situations expose a critical problem underlying many controversies drawing in science, policy and wider publics\u2014the idea of &#8220;The Big Book of Science.&#8221; This is the implicit assumption that science is a monolith of immutable, authoritative facts, discovered and written by heroic, lone geniuses. While science does generate reliable knowledge (and that\u2019s why it\u2019s useful), it is better understood as \u2018science in practice\u2019 &#8211; an ongoing process of trying to understand the messy, complex and scary world we live in. As we are seeing with coronavirus, but also bovine Tuberculosis and many earlier examples, \u2018The Science\u2019 of this situation is uncertain, contested across multiple experts and is changing fast. Implicit assumptions about the Big Book are therefore a barrier to effective public, media and policy engagement; they also make policy incoherence, the politics of distraction, the strategic undermining of expertise and blame shifting much easier to get away with. Public acknowledgement of science in practice is therefore desperately needed to move towards more productive modes of policymaking \u2013 an essential first step would be to stop trying to<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkbox\">Further reading:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchprofessionalnews.com\/rr-news-political-science-blog-2020-5-uk-s-coronavirus-response-repeats-the-errors-of-past-crises\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201dUK\u2019s coronavirus response repeats the errors of past crises\u201d (Research Professional News)<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/pandemipolitics.net\/flaws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Link2<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Angela Cassidy There are many parallels between the UK\u2019s response to the arrival of COVID-19 in recent months and its much longer policy history of grappling with bovine tuberculosis. In particular, both situations expose a critical problem underlying many controversies drawing in science, policy and wider publics\u2014the idea of &#8220;The Big Book of Science.&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3089,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[25,201,299,413,481],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy) - Exploring Society with COVID-19<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy) - Exploring Society with COVID-19\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Angela Cassidy There are many parallels between the UK\u2019s response to the arrival of COVID-19 in recent months and its much longer policy history of grappling with bovine tuberculosis. In particular, both situations expose a critical problem underlying many controversies drawing in science, policy and wider publics\u2014the idea of &#8220;The Big Book of Science.&#8221; [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Exploring Society with COVID-19\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-07T13:57:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/\",\"name\":\"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy) - Exploring Society with COVID-19\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-07T13:57:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-07T13:57:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#\/schema\/person\/b44ce1035525789d70a5961ea3278d8b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/\",\"name\":\"Exploring Society with COVID-19\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#\/schema\/person\/b44ce1035525789d70a5961ea3278d8b\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20b61463dae37b32ca24ffea280f3c35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20b61463dae37b32ca24ffea280f3c35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/author\/adnim\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy) - Exploring Society with COVID-19","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy) - Exploring Society with COVID-19","og_description":"By Angela Cassidy There are many parallels between the UK\u2019s response to the arrival of COVID-19 in recent months and its much longer policy history of grappling with bovine tuberculosis. In particular, both situations expose a critical problem underlying many controversies drawing in science, policy and wider publics\u2014the idea of &#8220;The Big Book of Science.&#8221; [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/","og_site_name":"Exploring Society with COVID-19","article_published_time":"2020-06-07T13:57:10+00:00","author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/","name":"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy) - Exploring Society with COVID-19","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-07T13:57:10+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-07T13:57:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#\/schema\/person\/b44ce1035525789d70a5961ea3278d8b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/2020\/06\/07\/can-science-settle-controversial-policy-questions-angela-cassidy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can science settle controversial policy questions? (Angela Cassidy)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/","name":"Exploring Society with COVID-19","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#\/schema\/person\/b44ce1035525789d70a5961ea3278d8b","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20b61463dae37b32ca24ffea280f3c35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20b61463dae37b32ca24ffea280f3c35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/author\/adnim\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/covidsociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}