Science in Public Conflict: Climate Change and the Covid-19 Pandemic in Digital Public Spheres from a Deliberative and Agonistic Perspective
Scientific controversies often persist in societal and political debates even when they have already been provisionally resolved within the scientific community (Erviti et al., 2018). This is particularly evident in the case of named socio-scientific issues (SSIs), such as climate change or the Covid-19 pandemic, which involve far-reaching political measures, are morally charged, and continuously develop new dynamics in digital public spheres.
Online environments and social media alter the conditions of public communication, including through changes in actor constellations (Taddicken & Schmidt, 2022). By communicating directly with a broad lay audience, scientists can more easily assume visible roles in public debates and, in doing so, may also become involved in public conflicts. Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists were exposed to verbal attacks (Nogrady, 2021). Hostility toward scientists not only has individual consequences for those affected; it also constitutes a serious problem from a public sphere theoretical perspective, as it violates discursive norms and can reduce affected actors’ willingness to express themselves (Nölleke et al., 2023), thereby threatening inclusive participation in public debates. Nevertheless, not all forms of conflict in digital public spheres pose a threat to democratic deliberation. A public sphere theoretical distinction between destructive conflict dynamics that violate democratic discursive norms and constructive forms of contestation that foster plurality and participation is therefore necessary.
This dissertation adopts an integrative public sphere theoretical perspective that brings together deliberative and agonistic approaches in a complementary manner in order to capture and normatively discuss conflicts in digital public spheres in greater differentiation. Empirical studies of online discussions surrounding climate change and Covid-19 are framed by public sphere theoretical perspectives situated at the intersection of science communication and political communication.
