Call for papers: Truth Politics between Science and Society. Political
Epistemologies of the 1990s Science Wars. Erfurt, 08.07.2025 - 09.07.2025,
Deadline 22.04.2025
In light of a dwindling public trust in science (Oreskes 2019) and
ambiguous calls for a ‘return to truth’ (Cain et al. 2019), understanding
the relationship between science and a democratic public, the delineation
of appropriate scientific practices, and how to reconcile conflicting
interpretations of reality seems to be more relevant than ever. In the
1990s, struggles over these issues culminated in the Science Wars that
consisted of a series of heated academic-public discussions, among them the
infamous ‘Sokal Hoax’. The Science Wars represent a historic peak and
intersection of academic, political, and epistemological debates that had
been smoldering for decades before, leaving a contested legacy.
A fresh perspective on the Science Wars – one that acknowledges their
historical complexity, moves beyond a dualistic framing, and situates them
firmly in their historical moment – promises to illuminate the social,
political, and cultural ramifications on academia and beyond. The workshop
aims to map and historicize the shifting epistemological landscapes of the
1990s from an international perspective informed by methods of Historical
and Political Epistemology.
We take the Science Wars and their reception as a vantage point to explore
historical debates at the nexus of truth, science, and society. The topics
may include, but are not limited to:
- debates about the relationship between religion, especially creationism,
and science and education (Perez 2024);
- the “Darwin wars” (Brown 2000) or “Evolution wars” (Aechtner 2020);
- the New Atheist movement and its struggles against religious
“irrationalism”;
- sceptics’ networks debunking “pseudo-sciences” since the 1970s;
- more generally, the philosophical efforts to delineate science against
“pseudo-science” (Popper, Lakatos, Bunge etc.);
- the “Freud wars” against psychoanalysis;
- the “theory wars” (Bevir et al. 2020) in literary theory;
- debates about science museum exhibitions (e.g. Science in American Life,
Enola Gay) etc.
In line with the perspective of Historical and Political Epistemology, the
following questions might be worth considering:
- What were the socio-political effects of deploying scientific concepts,
rhetorics, and arguments (e.g. truth, objectivity, rationalism, the
scientific method, academic freedom) in particular historical contexts?
- What kind of political and social imaginations about the future of
science and the (democratic) public informed these different positions?
- What kinds of subjectivities and narratives about science and society
were re-/asserted?
In particular, we invite paper proposals with an international and
transnational perspective on the reception of the Science Wars and related
debates, as well as similar struggles that played out in different academic
cultures and national contexts. Moreover, the role of new channels of
communication and media, and how they shaped debates in public-academic
arenas represent an important topic to explore.
We invite colleagues to send a short CV, and a 300-word abstract of their
paper (the presentation should be 25-30 minutes long). The deadline for
submission is April 22, 2025. Please send these documents to
forschungsstelle.wahrheit@uni-erfurt.de. Applicants will be notified of the
acceptance of their proposal by the beginning of May. As a result of the
workshop, we are planning a publication. The workshop will take place at
the University of Erfurt, Germany. We will cover travel and accommodation
costs for the speakers.
Organizing Committee:
Martin Babička, D.Phil., Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy
of Sciences, Prague
Johanna Hügel, History of Science, University of Erfurt
Meike Katzek, M.A., History of Science, University of Erfurt
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kleeberg, History of Science, University of Erfurt
Dr. Jan Surman, Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of
Sciences, Prague
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