Post-normal science in practice

This special issue contains a selection of papers presented during the 2014 Bergen meeting, complemented with short perspectives by young PNS-inspired scholars, presented at a mini-symposium “Post-normal times? New thinking about science and policy advice” held on 21 October 2016 in celebration of Silvio Funtowicz' 70th birthday, also in Bergen. In addition, the issue includes two more extended commentaries on the present crisis in science and the post-fact/post-truth discourse, one from Europe (Saltelli and Funtowicz, this issue) and one from Japan (Tsukahara, this issue). Far from being a complete representation of the discussions at both symposia, the six papers, three short perspectives on PNS and two extended commentaries on the present crisis, represent relevant reflections on the current state and possible future scope of PNS in the context of the rapidly changing role of science in governance.     

Engineering ethics and post-normal science: A French perspective

The paper identifies three failures of current engineering ethics and suggests that a post-normal turn may help redesign a more demanding ethics for engineering practice. Finally it outlines some difficulties that such a post-normal engineering ethics may face, especially in the French context.     

Post-normal institutional identities: Quality assurance,reflexivity and ethos of care

This paper suggests adopting a ‘post-normal science’ (PNS) style and practice in scientific advice, and motivate the urgency of this methodological stance with the increasing complexity, and polarisation affecting the use of science-based evidence for policy. We reflect on challenges and opportunities faced by a ‘boundary organisation’ that interfaces between science and policy, taking as example the European Commission’s Directorate General Joint Research Centre, whose mission is stated as that to be the “in-house science service”. We suggest that such an institution can be exemplary as to what could be changed to improve the quality of evidence feeding into the policy processes in the European Union. This paper suggests how an in-house culture of reflexivity and humility could trigger changes in the existing styles and methods of scientific governance; at the JRC, taken as example, this would mean opening up to the existing plurality of norms and styles of scientific inquiry, and adopting more participatory approaches of knowledge production, assessment and governance. We submit that the institutional changes advocated here are desirable and urgent in order to confront the ongoing erosion of trust in ‘evidence based policy’, anticipating controversies before they become evident in the institutional setting in which institutions operate.     

Investigating science for governance through the lenses of complexity

This paper assesses the contributions of complexity theory to post-normal science. The oversupply of facts in science for governance is explained as a matter of complexity, defined as irreducible pluralism in the knowledge base. The paper shows how complexity provides an interface to engage with the multiple facts of science through three different examples. First, water narratives are used to show how different scales of analysis produce contradictory scientific representations of the same system. Second, smart electricity grids are assessed to demonstrate how different levels of uncertainty are associated with different representations. Third, the case of slum upgrading is used to discuss the need to take into account stakes in science for governance.     

What is science’s crisis really about?

Present day reasoning about difficulties in science reproducibility, science governance, and the use of science for policy could benefit from a philosophical and historical perspective. This would show that the present crisis was anticipated by some scholars of these disciplines, and that diagnoses were offered which are not yet mainstream among crisis-aware disciplines, from statistics to medicine, from bibliometrics to biology. Diagnoses in turn open the path to possible solutions. This discussion is urgent given the impact of the crises on public trust in institutions. We ask whether the present crisis may be seminal in terms of drawing attention to alternative visions for the role of Science in society, and its relevant institutional arrangements. We finish by offering a number of suggestions in this direction.     

Scientific eventuality or science fiction: The future of people with different abilities

Consider this, we are living in a future [in-part] imagined over 30 years ago- in science fiction film and books. We may envision that 30 years from now we could live in a future with technology developed from the concepts we see in science fiction today. In this paper, the concepts of disability are challenged in the future based on the technologies imagined in the science fiction genre of the present and past. Focused on the sub-genre, Cyberpunk, current mainstream, as well as new emerging technologies inspired by science fiction are reviewed. Future disability is reimagined dependent on continued support and acceptance of the emerging technology. If our past is any indication, our future may lie in the conceptual and slightly implausible figments of our science fiction-based imaginations. However, the cultural shift will significantly impact our laws, regulations, and policies, as well as introduce new societal concerns.     

保护规范理论的引入与问题——基于最高法院裁判的观察

保护规范理论的引入,符合我国主观诉讼为主的行政诉讼法制构造和拓宽原告资格的修法宗旨,为原告资格的“利害关系”判断标准提供了分析框架。然而最高法院对该理论的理解和适用仍存在不足： 忽视了该理论的适用前提和作用范围,在具体操作上尚未形成清晰稳定的思路;作为解释对象的法规范围尚不明确,规范目的的解释过于依赖特别条款的明确规定和笼统的立法目的。为充分发挥保护规范理论扩大权益救济的功能,应明确该理论旨在解决的问题是查明主观公权利,诉请保护之利益的法律属性不明是该理论适用的前提,在具体操作中合理确定保护规范的范围,对规范目的作体系化解释及合宪性考量。     

The diversity of expertise on corporate boards in Australia

Expertise diversity is expected to enhance the monitoring and advising functions of boards of directors. Yet, little is known about the expertise that actually exists on corporate boards. In this study, we examine the diversity of professional expertise on corporate boards in Australia and implications for shareholder value. We categorise directors by 11 types of professional expertise and find the most common types of expertise are business executives, accountants, bankers, scientists, lawyers and engineers. We find that expertise diversity is primarily related to board size, industry and location. Our analysis also suggests that shareholders benefit when boards diversify their expertise within a subset of specialist business expertise (lawyers, accountants, consultants, bankers and outside CEOs). Further diversity beyond this subset of expertise is associated with lower firm value and performance.     

中关村科技金融创新的举措、问题及对策

中关村科技金融先行先试,又一次成为全国创新创业的风向标。其深入推进则面临着较大的复杂性和挑战性。集中表现为科技金融创新的效能有待进一步提升,具体表现为创新方式示范效应大于实际效应、金融支持的积聚效应不明显、示范区内科技金融的内循环不畅等。未来3~5年,将科技与金融资源优势变为创新创业优势,致力于科技型企业信贷融资、创新创业银行及以联通创新创业信息孤岛为载体的中关村科技金融内循环体系建设,将是中关村科技金融创新的主要突破方向。     

犯罪参与理论的讨论范式及其转换

晚近四十年来,我国基于刑法“共同犯罪”一节展开的学术讨论,先后存在着以下四种范式： （1） “分工分类／作用分类”;（2） “限制的正犯概念／扩张的正犯概念”;（3） “区分制／单一制”;（4） “共同归责／单独归责”。立足于归责视角的讨论范式在出发点上相对合理,但在落脚点上对我国刑法“共同犯罪”节的体系归属产生“误判”。不论是从我国刑法第25条以下的规定还是从学说体系的缜密程度而言,采取单独归责模式（单一正犯体系）均能够为犯罪参与的认定提供更为坚实的基础。     

The role of epistemic policies in regulatory science: scientific substantiation of health claims in the European Union

This paper presents an analysis of the concept of scientific substantiation in European health claims regulation. It focuses on the controversies about the demand for the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships between food consumption and health outcomes in claim substantiation. Our analysis, on the basis of regulatory and scientific documents, identifies two opposing views about the aims of health claims regulation. Each of these two stances links certain regulatory objectives with specific epistemic policies, that is particular sets of scientific methodology, criteria, and procedure. The regulators, in selecting a demanding evidentiary approach based on a hierarchy of methodologies that requires causal data for substantiation of claims, give priority to preventing the authorization of false claims. The opposing view, espoused by the critics of this approach, opts for less demanding requirements for substantiation, implying the market availability of a wider range of products with health claims that may provide individual as well as public health benefits. We argue that one of the objectives that underlie the European regulators’ demand for causal data is to protect their own credibility, by trying to isolate them from value-laden debates about the limitations of scientific methodologies, as well as the societal and policy implications of regulatory decision-making.     

保护规范理论反思与本土化修正

近年来,我国宏观流动性投放逐步由以前的被动投放（外汇占款）向主动投放转变,银行业资产配置结构更趋多元化,金融创新更加活跃,这些都在一定程度上改变了金融体系流动性传导的渠道和机制,迫使我们重新审视流动性在金融体系中消长、转移的内在逻辑,探讨新形势下流动性管理的合理方式和路径。本文运用动力系统模型来分析和论证银行资产配置结构变化对市场流动性状况的影响机制,以及中央银行流动性管理工具的有效性。研究表明,银行资产配置趋势的同质化容易导致市场流动性状况的恶化;中央银行需要进一步完善利率传导机制,强化货币政策与宏观审慎评估政策的协同配合,以提升流动性管理的有效性。     

财务管理学案例教学模式的反思与梳理

现代教育的本质是在教育中高扬人的主体精神,培养学生自主、自强的独立意识和创造意识。财务管理学案例教学模式包括课堂讲授式、课堂讨论式、模拟现实式和ERP＂沙盘＂对抗实训等。这些教学模式开设了教学情境,转变了教师与学生在课堂上的行为方式,可以激发学生的学习兴趣,培养学习能力和创新能力,从而提高财务管理教学质量、回归教学本源。但也对教师的权威心理和执教能力与学生的学习心理和学习能力提出了挑战。     

公共关系学本科专业发展现状与思考

中国大陆现有16所高校设置公共关系学本科专业,生源和就业率都呈现出较为乐观的态势,但目录外专业地位、缺乏高层次学科带头人等因素制约了专业的发展.文章对合理发展公共关系学本科专业提出了基本建议.