Radioactive sheep, GM chocolate and Drax the Destroyer: rhetorical sociology and green issues

Dr Simon Locke, Senior Lecturer, Kingston University, He has been a contributor to the field of public understanding of science since the late 1980s, but in an effort to distinguish his approach, combining sociological and rhetorical analysis, he has taken to referring to his work as concerned with public meaning(s) of science. His recent works include the monograph Re-crafting Rationalization: Enchanted Science and Mundane Mysteries (Ashgate 2011) and the edited collection with Lorraine Locke, Knowledges in Publics (Cambridge Scholars, 2013).

Dr Locke discusses recent public debates about the environment as a way of revealing what these tell us about the public's understanding of science. He argues that science poses a dilemma for us as to whether it enchants or disenchants.