Feminist Science for the People

In this chapter, I trace the emergence of academic and policy work on “public understandings of science” and “science literacy” over the course of the last several decades alongside feminist and other critical approaches to the broader topic of democratic sciences. I argue that we must understand the historic epistemic authority of dominant sciences as well as the impact of on-the-ground activist movements of the 1960s and 70s which challenged that authority to evaluate claims for more democratic science in this moment. By doing this genealogical work, we might be better prepared to assess various attempts at democratic science rather than assuming all movements toward increased participation in sciences are universally beneficial to society as a whole. Instead, I argue for the need to expand and challenge the definition of science itself, making room for challenges to scientific authority through participation and democratization, as well as refusal to participate and science illiteracy.