Abstract

ESCOBAR, Jorge M.. The Social Appropriation of Science and Technology as a Slogan: an Analysis of the Colombian Case. Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2018, vol.13, n.38, pp.29-57. ISSN 1850-0013.

The design of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy has been dominated worldwide by different processes implemented by international entities like OECD, UNESCO and others since the middle of the 20th Century. Godin has suggested that these processes have been guided by conceptual frameworks that work as narratives that allow justifying various political and financial policies in science and technology. This is done by popularizing terms such as "high-tech", "globalization", "new economy", "society/economy of information", "society/economy of knowledge" and "national systems of innovation", among others. Terms like these act as buzzwords or slogans that help support and drive concrete political and financial agendas with regard to designing STI policies in several countries worldwide. The main case made by this paper is that the treatment of buzzwords or slogans also applies to one of the most popular terms in Ibero-American STI policy in the last two decades, namely: "social appropriation of science and technology" (ASCyT, due to the initials in Spanish). To defend this concept, this paper focuses on analyzing the Colombian case.

Keywords : Science popularization; Social appropriation of knowledge; Public perception of science; Scientific policy.