Community Science as Democratic Science

Community Science is a type of citizen science co-developed and co-executed by professional and non-professional scientists. Because of this deeper and more intimate involvement of ordinary individuals in the scientific process, Community Science projects are said to have a greater potential than the other three types to build successful partnerships and to engender an understanding of the nature of science. This symposium represents a first systematic philosophical exploration of this practice, asking whether such projects live up to their rhetoric of addressing epistemic and material injustice. The papers consider the extent to which community science can form the basis of a practice of reconciliation in oppressed, minority communities, whether citizen participants are exploited by professional scientists, and if community science has the educational and epistemic potential it is claimed to have.