“Dioxins are the easiest topic to mention”: Resident activists’ construction of knowledge about low-level exposure to toxic chemicals

Abstract

This article discusses how residents in a local area contributed to the construction of knowledge in regard to scientific assessments in relation to a fire in a storage dump of burnable waste. Building on analytical concepts primarily from Social Worlds theory as well as some concepts from Actor-Network Theory, the analysis shows how dissent and a number of scientific controversies were initiated by some residents living nearby the waste dump who proved to be excellent network builders and who built a number of alliances with media and independent scientists, thus questioning the authorities' and their experts' legitimacy. Furthermore, the situated analysis identifies how a few persons--not very organized--were able to create a debate about scientific matters using their combined resources and strong alliance-building abilities, thus proving that in some cases there is no need for a higher level of organization.

Mapping do-it-yourself science

“…Salin & Pesso, 2017), knowledge production and applied research (e.g. Andersen, 2014; Lin, 2011), business (e.g. Vasconcelos, 2007), etc.…”

Close encounters between young people and human spaceflight

“…This study draws on actor-network-theory, or ANT (Callon, 1984;Latour, 2005), as an approach from science studies to examine how the Principia mission connected with young people. Approaches based on ANT have been taken in science education (Roth, 1996;Fountain, 1999;Pouliot, 2008;Pierce, 2015) and in the public understanding of science (Andersen, 2016;Plesner, 2010). ANT maps relationships between actors (humans or things) that make a difference, in this case to how attitudes towards space are produced.…”