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Down the Rabbit Hole: Heterodox Science on the Internet

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Science under Siege

Part of the book series: Cultural Sociology ((CULTSOC))

Abstract

This chapter argues that the orthodoxies of modern science have always been challenged by intellectual counter elites and their ‘heterodox science,’ but that the Internet has provided a platform for the general public to participate. Its open, non-hierarchical structure affords the flowering of (once) stigmatized knowledge claims, invites users to ‘do their own online research,’ and sparks ‘truth wars’ between trained scientific experts and amateur scientists. It is demonstrated that the debunking of such online initiatives as ‘irrational pseudo-science’ has become difficult. For today’s social media platforms are not just open fora where heterodox science is actively discussed, developed, and disseminated. They are also environments where deviant scientific ideas are socially and algorithmically consolidated and sustained, even to the extent that radicalization becomes likely.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Media Studies, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Stef Aupers & Lars de Wildt

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  1. Stef Aupers
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  2. Lars de Wildt
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Correspondence to Stef Aupers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Sociological Research, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Dick Houtman

  2. Institute for Media Studies, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Stef Aupers

  3. Center for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Rudi Laermans

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Aupers, S., de Wildt, L. (2021). Down the Rabbit Hole: Heterodox Science on the Internet. In: Houtman, D., Aupers, S., Laermans, R. (eds) Science under Siege. Cultural Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69649-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69649-8_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-69649-8

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