Introduction to Science Policy HPSC 1004

1
Introduction to Science PolicyHPSC 1004

• Risk Society
• Tom Roberts
• PhD Researcher
• Department of Geography
• t.roberts_at_ucl.ac.uk

2
Overview

• What do we mean by Risk?
• Risk and modernity.
• Risk in contemporary society.
• Changing perceptions of Risk.
• Perceived Vs. actual Risk.
• The role of science.
• The role of politics and civil servants.
• The role of the media.
• The Precautionary Principle.
• BSE case study.
• What is a sensible level of Risk management?
• Implications for Policy?

3
What do we mean by Risk?

• The study of risk concerns the difference
  between the perceived and actual risk of a
  phenomenon and the implications this has on the
  decisions made regarding the phenomenon.
• For example, the actual risk of being killed by a
  falling tree in the UK is very small,
  approximately 1 in 10 million. However, the
  perceived risk is much higher and has resulted in
  significant preventative legislation.

4
Risk and Modernity

• Risk as a result of the manipulation of nature
• We are therefore concerned no longer
  exclusively with making nature useful, or with
  releasing mankind from traditional constraints,
  but also and essentially with problems resulting
  from techno-economic development itself.
• (Beck 1992)
• Risk is becoming its own theme - the risk
  associated with a particular technology is
  becoming the focus rather than the technology
  itself, i.e. Wireless internet.

5
Risk in Contemporary Society

• Some social theorists have claimed that risk
  controversies are distinctively new phenomenon
  which reflect profound social, political and
  cultural transformations.
• Life is not necessarily more risky than in the
  past but there is an increase in risks beyond our
  control.
• There is an increase in scientific and medical
  uncertainty and increased division in expert
  opinion.

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Changing Perceptions of Risk

• Risks in medieval times were predictable to the
  senses.
• In the past potential risks could be traced back
  to undersupply of hygienic technology. Today they
  have their basis in industrial overproduction.
• A basic knowledge of science and technology
  allows people to be aware of risks without
  properly understanding them i.e. radiation.

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Perceived Vs. Actual Risk

• About one third as many children are killed in
  road accidents in Britain today as in 1922 when
  there was a nationwide 20 mph speed limit and
  hardly any traffic not because the streets are
  three times safer for children to play in, but
  because they are perceived by parents to be so
  dangerous that they do not let their children out
  anymore.

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The Role of Science

• According to Mertons norms science is supposed
  to be un-biased.
• Science is supposed to present policy makers with
  the best scientific advice.
• However, the same science can be used to inform a
  number of possible policy options.
• Therefore if scientists are informing policy
  makers they are departing from strict science.
• Furthermore, the way a problem is conceptualised
  has an impact on the type of science which is
  applied.
• This uncertainty surrounding the science forms
  the basis for conceptualisations of risk.

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The Problem of Uncertainty
10
The Role of Politics and Civil Servants

• Setting the agenda for research and controlling
  the funding.
• Government will allocate funding to areas of
  research it considers important, undermining the
  ability of scientists to conduct original work.
• The manipulation of scientific outputs.
• The reputation of scientists can be damaged by
  standing up to the government, i.e. Dr. David
  Kelly

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The Role of the Media

• The media does not simply reflect controversy or
  help to shape its portrayal in the public sphere.
• The media coverage is an integral part of the
  controversy.
• Media reporting, public responses and specialist
  opinion are the context in which policy making
  occurs and an integral part of the process.
• There is not always a clear line between science
  and decision making and critically between
  science and communication and presentation.

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The Role of the Media

• Quote from a senior medical official in the
  Department of Health commented
• you do have to take the line I mean what you
  cannot do is to go to ministers and say God
  knows we dont know what is going to happen.
  If you go out to the press and say we havent the
  foggiest idea what is going to happen, what do
  you think will happen there? You cant do that.
  They will then, I would guess take the worst
  possible line.
• (Miller, D 1999)
• Furthermore, the media can have a significant
  influence on the way the public perceive risk.
  i.e. GM crops and nuclear power.

13
The Precautionary Principle

• Risk controversies have led to a greater use of
  the precautionary principle.
• Increased scientific uncertainty has led to a
  precautionary measures being taken by decision
  makers i.e. the increase in flood defences.
• However, taking a precautionary approach can also
  lead to the media and general public anticipating
  the worst case scenario and may in fact develop
  further risk controversies.

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Marine Conservation

• The scale and connectivity of the marine
  environment means scientific uncertainty is a
  huge problem for policy makers.
• Introducing the precautionary principle is
  controversial.
• Can lead to risk controversies being developed
  such as the claim that fish stocks will be
  unsustainable by 2048.
• Such figures are not backed up by hard science
  and represent an example of scientists moving out
  of their traditional scientific role.
• However, snappy figures are appealing to the
  media.

15
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Case Study

• There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the
  source of BSE
• Increased use of technology in the
  manufacturing of food is a sign of the rapidly
  widening gap between individual consumers and the
  production of food.
• This has led to a decline in our knowledge of
  food production and led to the development of
  suspicion and a risk culture.
• Serious questions have been asked regarding the
  accuracy of the science relating to BSE.

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Public Health or Animal Welfare Issue?

• To date, many of the dooms day predictions
  regarding the impact of BSE on human health
  appear to have been unfounded this has led to
  an increased suspicion surrounding the science.
• Due to the original conceptualisation of the
  problem as an animal welfare issue much of the
  research has focused on animals rather than the
  implications for humans, adding to the
  uncertainty.

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BSE and the Media

• The media played a pivotal role in forming public
  opinion during the BSE crisis. Public consumption
  of beef dropped considerably.
• It was clear that the biological reality was in
  fact secondary to public opinion and perceptions.
  

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What is a Sensible Level of Risk Management?
19

• I want to talk today about a particular
  problem my experience has led me to identify. It
  is an issue that seems more of a talking point
  than an issue of policy that has many different
  facets to it that is little discussed in the way
  Im about to discuss it but which, on the basis
  of my experience, if it goes wrong, has the
  capacity to do serious damage to our country. It
  is what I call a sensible debate about risk in
  public policy making. In my view, we are in
  danger of having a wholly disproportionate
  attitude to the risks we should expect to run as
  a normal part of life. This is putting pressure
  on policy-making, not just in Government but in
  regulatory bodies, on local government, public
  services, in Europe and across parts of the
  private sector to act to eliminate risk in a
  way that is out of all proportion to the
  potential damage. The result is a plethora of
  rules, guidelines, responses to scandals of one
  nature or another that ends up having utterly
  perverse consequences.
• (Tony Blair 2005)

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Implications for Policy

• Does Risk aid or hinder the policy making process?