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Fairness in Knowing: Science Communication and Epistemic Justice

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Abstract

Science communication, as a field and as a practice, is fundamentally about knowledge distribution; it is about the access to, and the sharing of knowledge. All distribution (science communication included) brings with it issues of ethics and justice. Indeed, whether science communicators acknowledge it or not, they get to decide both which knowledge is shared (by choosing which topic is communicated), and who gets access to this knowledge (by choosing which audience it is presented to). As a result, the decisions of science communicators have important implications for epistemic justice: how knowledge is distributed fairly and equitably. This paper presents an overview of issues related to epistemic justice for science communication, and argues that there are two quite distinct ways in which science communicators can be just (or unjust) in the way they distribute knowledge. Both of these paths will be considered before concluding that, at least on one of these accounts, science communication as a field and as a practice is fundamentally epistemically unjust. Possible ways to redress this injustice are suggested.

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Acknowledgements

This paper was presented at PCST2016 in Istanbul, and I am grateful for comments for received from the audience in greatly improving the argument. I am also grateful to Joan Leach for many discussions on the topic.

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  1. Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Fabien Medvecky

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  1. Fabien Medvecky
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Correspondence to Fabien Medvecky.

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Medvecky, F. Fairness in Knowing: Science Communication and Epistemic Justice. Sci Eng Ethics 24, 1393–1408 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-017-9977-0

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