Armchair science and gut feelings: How citizens use epistemological autonomy to keep expertise at arm’s length

• In Event: 50667 - Challenging epistemic institutions: Unruly knowledge, outlaw technology, and fringe-mainstream relations

Abstract

With growing worries about skepticism and distrust in science, we see a tension between lay people being driven to accept science and expert advice while populist politicians such as RFK Jr. reject established expertise by claiming to just 'follow the science'. Recent research investigates how individuals in particular political or cultural contexts navigate this tension either through 'epistemological individualism' or 'ambivalence'. This study provides a new sociological understanding of how lay citizens navigate the middle ground between pure acceptance and rejection of expertise. They do this by exercising a strategy of 'epistemological autonomy', which may include doing one's own research and trying to level with experts, all with the objective to stay in control rather than cede authority to the latter. In other words, we investigate how people find their own way to “follow the science.” Our respondents come from a wide variety of social, political and cultural backgrounds, and most of them strive for autonomous control of how experts and expertise gets to impact their lives even though they also express wide appreciation for science. The abductive study is based on 150 semi-structured interviews across five countries about why people follow their own research or the advice of experts.

Authors

• Lars Thorup Larsen, Aarhus University

• Luis Antonio Vila-Henninger, Aarhus University