Darrin Durant – författare

As oil reserves decline and the environment becomes more prominentin public policy discussions, the merits and dangers of nuclear powerand nuclear waste management continue to be debated. Canada is intenton building more reactors to increase energy production without harmingthe planet, but it and other nuclear energy-producing countries facenot only technical problems but also social and ethical issues.Nuclear Waste Management in Canada provides a criticalcounterpoint to the favourable position taken by government andindustry. The contributors build their case by exploring the followingkey issues and developments: What do frequently used terms such assafety, risk, and acceptability really mean? How and why did the publicconsultation process in Canada fail to address ethical and socialissues? What is the significance and potential of a public consultationprocess that involves diverse interests, epistemologies, and actors,including Aboriginal peoples? And how do we ensure that the frameworksfor discussion are inclusive and ethical?This collection is a timely antidote to the uncertainty, ambiguity,and ignorance that surrounds discussions about nuclear energy.

The rise of populism in the West has led to attacks on the legitimacy of scientific expertise in political decision making. This book explores the differences between populism and pluralist democracy and their relationship with science. Pluralist democracy is characterised by respect for minority choices and a system of checks and balances that prevents power being concentrated in one group, while populism treats minorities as traitorous so as to concentrate power in the government. The book argues that scientific expertise – and science more generally -- should be understood as one of the checks and balances in pluralist democracies. It defends science as ‘craftwork with integrity’ and shows how its crucial role in democratic societies can be rethought and that it must be publicly explained. This book will be of value to scholars and practitioners working across STS as well as to anyone interested in decoding the populist agenda against science.