전문가주의와 젠더 문제 -지식과 전문성의 정치학에 대한 비평

Abstract

After the birth of modern science, there is a widespread belief that science and technology are typically the products of expertise. In this paper, I question the professionalism of the scientific knowledge and technology from the feminist perspectives. In doing so, I pose two questions. Firstly, are there real cases of lay people’s having and showing the capabilities to produce scientific knowledge and to critically assess scientific issues and technological policies? Secondly, if nonexpert can intervene on some aspect of science and technology, then what kind of substantial contribution could they make? And what kinds of procedures would they need to go through in order to make the scientific and technological contributions? In my attempt to provide an answer to the first question, I look to two cases from the works and achievements of Jane Jacobs and Rachel Carson that have overcome daunting challenges. In light of the cases of Jacobs and Carson who have introduced feminist perspectives and values to their fields of expertise, I attempt to reveal the relationship between ‘gender’ and scientific- and technological- ‘expertise’ in this paper. Second question posed above has to do with the problem of the validity or approval of knowledge production by lay citizens. I seek an answer to the question from H. Collins and T. Pinch, who have proposed and defended the notion of attaining ‘contributory expertise’ in their field of medicine. This paper refers to female farmers as an extreme case of ‘lay experts.’ If we compare the local knowledge of native female farmers to the privileged scientific knowledge of Western male scientists, it is not difficult to see the gendered qualities of science and its history. I have attempted to show the level of privilege and favoritism the scientific knowledge and expertise have received in contrast to women’s local knowledge, which have been undervalued as indigenous, non-scientific beliefs produced by non-expert. In referring to the arguments made by V. Shiva, who have criticized the gendered politics of science resulting in the exclusion of females from the pool of experts and knowledge-bearers, I argue in favor of the value of female farmers’ local knowledge as well as their contribution on agriculture and ecology as lay experts. The problem of expertise is deeply connected to the pivotal issue of democratization of science. Conflicts between men and science are rapidly increasing in numbers, as shown in the cases of nuclear weapons, genetic engineering, and environmental disasters. The worsening relationship between men and science stems from the weakening authority of science, and I find the main causes of the phenomenon from the privatization of science and from the segregation of science and lay citizen. I contend in this paper that one way to mend the broken relationship is through promoting lay expertise and acknowledging both the ‘expertise of scientists’ and the ‘expertise of lay citizens.’