Sociology & Anthropology · Sociology of Religion, Science & Technology
A topic within Sociology of Religion, Science & Technology, itself one of 9 topics in that field and part of Sociology & Anthropology.
2 works
Stephen Turner
Argues that expert knowledge poses a genuine problem for democracy because experts hold their authority through cognitive means voters cannot independently check, so trusting them requires a different kind of justification than trusting an elected representative.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Harry Collins & Robert Evans
Argues sociology of science went too far in treating all knowledge claims as equally political, and proposes classifying different kinds of expertise -- including a 'contributory' expertise that only practitioners have -- as a way back to saying some judgements really do know more than others.
link checked 17 Sept 2026