counter-expertise

counter-expertise

the reservoirs of‘lay’ expertise increasingly available in modern societies to contest the legitimacy of expert (and sometimes self-interested) claims to knowledge. Since expert claims to knowledge are often internally contested, and since the divided line between science and ‘lay’ knowledge is no longer clear-cut (see SCIENCE), any assumption that decision-making in modern societies must be controlled by experts and ÉLITES is unwarranted. Thus, as BECK (1992) suggests, the opportunity exists for ‘social standards of relevance’ to become more decisive.