Science, Knowledge and Society: Sociological Approaches to Scientific Insights

Last summer, the University of Ottawa hosted the 22nd International Congress of French-Speaking Sociologists, bringing together over 1,000 specialists from the four corners of the world to focus on a crucial topic: “Science, knowledge and society.”

In her inaugural address, Associate Vice-President, Research Promotion and Development Martine Lagacé highlighted an essential truth: “The specificity of social science research is that it takes place in different cultural contexts, each with its own characteristics.”

Let’s meet two University of Ottawa sociologists who led fascinating discussions at this Congress on the role of the social sciences in the ecology of knowledge, offering unique perspectives on this vital issue. 

Professor Stéphanie Gaudet’s research focuses on social and political engagement, democratic participation and qualitative methodologies.

In her view, the social sciences are crucial to understanding how individuals, societies and governments evolve alongside innovations in science and technology, particularly in the current context of mistrust in scientific knowledge.

She highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Governments wanted to act fast to fight the virus, so they didn’t open up the scientific discussion. This resulted in a distrust of science by a certain segment of the population. But in reality, it was a loss of faith in the government’s ability to manage this crisis.”

“Our governments lack transparency in the way they obtain and use scientific data, and in how they may be influenced by private company lobbying in setting scientific priorities, particularly pharmaceutical and agri-food companies,” she adds.

She says that sociologists are in a position to study these issues, “because they analyse the role of various actors and their power relationships to understand who is using whom, and which populations are being minoritized or experiencing social inequality.”

“We also need to understand that although our scientific techniques seek to achieve neutrality, all knowledge is situated,” she emphasizes. “Through the social sciences, we can better understand how scientists’ personal experiences and socialization influence their research topics, and therefore the results and knowledge derived from such research.”

She cites Vincent Larivière’s research showing that in the United States, the arrival of women in academia has led to the development of knowledge about domestic violence and gender inequality, among other subjects. “This demonstrates the importance of diversity among scientists and among scientific epistemologies,” she notes. “If our scientists all share the same perspective on the world, this will limit progress and the development of new knowledge.”

Professor Catherine Dussault is interested in how Indigenous knowledge, particularly that of the Inuit of Nunavik, is produced, mobilized and accessed.

She explains that the concept of Indigenous knowledge is hard to pin down. “Indigenous knowledge has multiple meanings, all of which are linked to ways of living, concrete experience, relationships with oneself and with others, including the Earth, animals, water and more.” 

To underscore this multiplicity, she points out that in Inuktitut, ordinary knowledge is called “qaujimaniq,” a term whose root “qau” means “light.” “Through language, we see that Inuit think of knowledge as something that enlightens, that is active, and that is in contrast to darkness,” she says.

Through her research, Professor Dussault reflects on these multiplicities and their relationships in order to find ways of highlighting them, both individually and collectively. She suggests that we should value the plurality of knowledge and recognize the equal dignity of knowledge.

“We need to avoid seeing ‘Indigenous knowledge’ as something that needs to fulfil a function within another knowledge system,” she warns. “If we follow this train of thought, Indigenous knowledge is considered and used as something that exists only through the lens of Euro-Western knowledge. However, we know that Indigenous knowledge exists far beyond this binary construct, even thought it takes part in its construction.”

To value other ways of being, thinking, feeling and acting, Professor Dussault believes that social science researchers need to reflect on their own roles: “Our primary responsibility is to ask ourselves how we access, share and disseminate knowledge, and how we do so in all the various spheres of our lives as social beings.”