[LUM#1] Citizen Science: A Growing Counterculture
Citizen science, which thrives on independence and relies on the involvement of volunteer citizens, isn’t afraid to call itself revolutionary. Nor is it afraid to stir up controversy…
While participatory science is firmly embedded within an institutional framework—programs designed by researchers, for researchers—citizen science demands a distinct status.“It asserts the existence of knowledge beyond the walls of academia, challenges the established order of academic research, and questions the legitimacy of knowledge,” explains Vincent Devictor, an ecologist and philosopher.
Their credo: to refuse to let knowledge be monopolized by institutions. “Advocates of citizen science are inventing new ways of organizing themselves, in a much more participatory, non-hierarchical manner,” explains Guillaume Bagnolini, a philosopher of science. “The scientific method remains the same, but the governance model is shifting toward a collaborative approach. This is unprecedented in the history of science.”
Open-source biology
In practice? Citizen science enthusiasts organize themselves into community labs where everyone brings their own research projects. Among them are science enthusiasts, knowledgeable amateurs, and even researchers. “Some people join these alternative labs because they don’t fully agree with the way research is conducted, ”explains Guillaume Bagnolini. Many of them are particularly interested in biohacking,“a movement that aims to make scientific data related to biology accessible to everyone.”
An area where citizen science is often dismissed as “garage biology.”“It involves making do with whatever materials are on hand and improvising,” explains Guillaume Bagnolini. “You find the worst of it, but also the best! Because sometimes truly amazing projects emerge,” adds Vincent Devictor. From biological ink to affordable malaria detectors and green batteries, the innovations coming out of community labs might not have been invented anywhere else…
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