From Producers of “Cognizant Publics” to Apolitical Experts? Analysing the Media Engagements of Scientists in Post-Socialist Serbia

Abstract

This article explores ethnographically the various media engagements of astrophysics researchers in Belgrade, Serbia. At one extreme, I explore engagements whose primary objectives include engaging with and enlisting a “public” and a new generation of scientists. At the other extreme, I explore engagements which took the form of polemical discussions concerning complex social and political issues. I interpret these as connected as much with power struggles within existing groupings of academics as in trying to enlist a public. I finally bring these different strands together through Verdery’s concept of “cognizant publics” and the idea of a “scientific expert”.

Key words:

ethnography, science, post-socialism, Serbia, media