Expertise in Crisis: The Ideological Contours of Public Scientific Controversies

When the utility of masks or vaccinations became politicized during the COVID—19 pandemic and lost its mooring in scientific evidence, an already—developing crisis of expertise was exacerbated. Those who believe in consensus science wondered: “How can ‘those people’ not see the truth?”

With a foreword by Harry Collins, this book shows that the crisis is not a "scientific" controversy, but an ideological dispute with "believers" on both sides. If the advocates for consensus science acknowle...