Broken Promises and Rising Tides: How Competing World Cultures Shape Public Trust in Science

• In Event: Science, Knowledge & Technology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 12: Trust, Mistrust, and Distrust

Abstract

This study investigates the contemporary paradox of scientific authority: the simultaneous global expansion of scientization and the deepening epistemological crisis within liberal democracies. Drawing on world society theory, I examine how embeddedness in competing global modules—liberal and illiberal—shapes public perceptions of science. Using World Values Survey data (Waves 5–7) spanning 54 countries, I employ three-level multilevel models to distinguish between two dimensions of trust: science as progress (optimism regarding prosperity) and science as a societal dimension (the normative tension between science and faith). The findings challenge foundational sociological assumptions. Contrary to expectations, dense embeddedness in liberal world society—measured via INGO memberships, democracy, and academic freedom—is significantly and negatively associated with the view of science as an engine of progress. Conversely, linkages to illiberal IGOs and the rising global illiberal culture are associated with higher levels of scientific optimism, a trend that has intensified in recent years. I interpret these results through the lens of Ulrich Beck’s risk society and the concept of modernity optimism. I argue that individuals in advanced liberal societies, having reached the pinnacle of the modern project, have become disillusioned by the systemic risks and broken promises of late modernity. In contrast, those in regions influenced by the rising illiberal tide continue to view science as a foundational promise for future prosperity. Ultimately, the crisis of scientific authority appears less as a product of illiteracy and more as a structural reflection of growing unease with the liberal global order itself.

Author

• Nir Rotem, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem