Stengers on the seventh framework.
Having poured over the umpteenth attempt to give some meaning to the
now-official ‘crisis’ of the EU, this one looked all the more
refreshing, as the reiteration of Stenger’s call for a democratization
of the production of scientific authority reminded me of the many
terrains ‘beyond politics’ where Europe takes (its) shape, sz
Europe’s foremost philosopher of science offers a devastating indictment
of contemporary European science
Isabelle Stengers
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/WSWE.php
As a philosopher, I can imagine no better keynote to strike than: what
are you doing, what are you trying to do? Organizing a discussion on the
European Research policy matters! It matters because it is both urgently
needed and difficult.
How to read the seventh framework programme? The first point to note is
that this programme does not really invite political debate. Indeed we
do not dealing with choices that could be discussed but with what
presents itself as the simple enactment of the “Lisbon agenda”, fully
endorsing its slogans, such as “knowledge society”, “economy of
knowledge”, “knowledge and its exploitation” as “the key for economic
growth” and “the competitiveness of enterprises.” All this, leading, as
we should trust, to employment, while maintaining and strengthening the
so-called “European Model”, and also providing an improvement of welfare
and well-being, quality of life, health and the environment; for such
improvements rely, as history has shown, on the progress of knowledge
and its many applications.
