(Dis)Engaging the Public’s Fear: Construction of the Pitchfork Public in Deliberative Democracy

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Abstract

ABSTRACT: Scholarship in STS went through a “participatory turn” in the 1990s and 2000s. This scholarship argued for an increased role for publics in science policy and decision-making. This scholarship was put into practice in several deliberative democracy events about nanotechnology, funded through the National Nanotechnology Initiative. This was motivated by fear of angry publics, which this paper calls “pitchfork publics,” among scientists and policymakers. Ironically, though pitchfork publics motivated the policy turn to public engagement, when public engagement began to be enacted, none directly addressed or invited these pitchfork publics. This paper uses documents and interviews to explain this irony in terms of shared notions of credibility, expertise, and legitimacy among scientists, funding agencies, and the supporters of deliberative democracy who organized these events.

Author

• Matthew B. Sullivan, University of Michigan