The Social Promise of Scientific Progress: Technical Experts and the Quest for Authority

This chapter sketches the conditions under which a new type of expert was able to gain public authority in the nineteenth century. It examines the development of a new techno-scientific space, established and demarcated by expanded institutions of research and learning, nation-building, the technification of cities, and the rise of mass media. The chapter argues that the media provided a prime stage on which to acknowledge the power of expertise, as well as for experts to voice their demands for authority. In focusing on the media presence of experts, the chapter illuminates a seeming paradox: how certain experts were able to become charismatic media personalities, despite the lack of media savvy that usually characterizes techno-scientific expertise.

ISBN:9783110571141

Publication year:2022

Accessibility:Closed