Truth Politics between Science and Society. Political Epistemologies of the 1990s Science Wars

Organising Committee: Martin Babička (Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague); Johanna Hügel (University of Erfurt); Erik Kaiser (University of Erfurt); Meike Katzek (University of Erfurt); Bernhard Kleeberg (University of Erfurt); Jan Surman (Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague)

Contact: forschungsstelle.wahrheit@uni-erfurt.de

About

In light of a dwindling public trust in science (Oreskes 2019) and ambiguous calls for a ‘return to truth’ (Cain et al. 2019), understanding the relationship between science and a democratic public, the delineation of appropriate scientific practices, and how to reconcile conflicting interpretations of reality seems to be more relevant than ever. In the 1990s, struggles over these issues culminated in the Science Wars that consisted of a series of heated academic-public discussions, among them the infamous ‘Sokal Hoax’. The Science Wars represent a historic peak and intersection of academic, political, and epistemological debates that had been smoldering for decades before, leaving a contested legacy.

A fresh perspective on the Science Wars – one that acknowledges their historical complexity, moves beyond a dualistic framing, and situates them firmly in their historical moment – promises to illuminate the social, political, and cultural ramifications on academia and beyond. The workshop aims to map and historicize the shifting epistemological landscapes of the 1990s from an international perspective informed by methods of Historical and Political Epistemology. 

We take the Science Wars and their reception as a vantage point to explore historical debates at the nexus of truth, science, and society. In line with the perspective of Historical and Political Epistemology, the following questions might be worth considering: 

• What were the socio-political e]ects of deploying scientific concepts, rhetorics, and arguments (e.g. truth, objectivity, rationalism, the scientific method, academic freedom) in particular historical contexts?
• What kind of political and social imaginations about the future of science and the (democratic) public informed these di]erent positions?
• What kinds of subjectivities and narratives about science and society were re- /asserted? 

Programme

Workshop Day 1, 07/08/2025

• 12.30-01.00 pm Arrival & Welcome
• 01.00-01.30 pm  Bernhard Kleeberg & Meike Katzek (University of Erfurt): Introduction
• 01.30-03.00 pm  PANEL 1 / Defending Truth against Relativism in the 1990s Science Wars // Chair: Monika Wulz (ETH Zürich)
  • Meike Katzek (U Erfurt): Doing Truth while Hoaxing. Re-visiting Truth Scenes from the Science Wars.
  • Natacha Demoule (U Paris-Cité): ‘Relativism’ in the French-speaking World Before and After the ‘Science Wars’. Genesis of a ‘Danger’
• 03.00-03.30 pm  Coffee Break
• 03.30-04.15 pm Myrna Perez Sheldon (U Ohio): / TITLE // Chair: Meike Katzek (U Erfurt)
• 04.15-06.15 pm PANEL 2 / Re-Imagining Society and Human Nature from the 1980s on // Chair: Bernhard Kleeberg (U Erfurt)
  • Anna Klassen (KIT Karlsruhe): Constructing “the public“ in the West German Genetic Engineering Debate of the 1980ies
  • Alexej Lochmatow (U Erfurt): Why ‘Jewish Intelligence’? The Political Imaginary behind the New-Old Debate
  • Yiftach Fehige (U Toronto): The Offense of “New Atheism” in the 1990s Science Wars & the Defense of Scientific Pluralism for Democracy’s Sake
• 07.00 pm Dinner

Workshop Day 2, 07/09/2025

• 09.00-09.30 am  Coffee
• 09.30-11.00 am PANEL 3 / Science Wars Skirmishes Beyond the Iron Curtain // Chair: Anja Laukötter (FSU Jena)
  • Friedrich Cain (U Vienna): On Bourgeois Deficits and Marxist Perspective. Science Wars before the End of History
  • Martin Babička (U Essen): The End of State Socialism as the End of Modern Science. A Transnational History of Czech and US Science Wars
• 11.00-11.30 am  Coffee Break
• 11.30-12.15 am Jamie Cohen-Cole (George Washington U): / Constructivism and the Politics of Human Nature // Chair: Erik Kaiser (U Erfurt)
• 12.15-01.45 pm  Lunch Break
• 01.45-03.15 pm  PANEL 4 / Epistemological Transformations in the Post-Soviet Era // Chair: Jan Surman (MUA Prague)
  • Maksim Denim (U Bochum): The Epidemic of Disbelief in the Philosophy of Science in Post-Soviet Russia
  • Alexander Kochekovsky (U Bochum): Steven Greenblatt's New Historicism and Leonid Batkin's Post-Bakhtinism. Methodological Discussions on the Renaissance Culture as a Part of Post-Soviet Transformations in Academic Discourses of the 1990s
• 03.15-04.00 pm Final Discussion
• 06.00 pm Dinner