Sara De Toni
Università di Roma La Sapienza (sara.detoni@uniroma1.it; ORCID: 0009-0006- 7075-0896).
Abstract: This contribution aims to explore the concepts of “popular science” through the historical experience of the Popular Technical-Scientific Committee (CTSP), established in the aftermath of the Icmesa disaster in Meda-Seveso on July 10, 1976. At the core of this analysis are the notions of the non-neutrality of science and the regime of truth: the former refers to the structural and social conditions shaping the production of scientific knowledge within capitalist societies, highlighting how science is embedded in material relations and historical determinations; the latter, rooted in Foucault’s thought, is useful on the discursive level, as it describes the ensemble of mechanisms, practices, and institutions that determine what is recognized as true within a given historical context. The ways in which the notion of “people” is constructed and mobilized serve as a particularly sensitive indicator of the political and epistemic orientation of a given social formation. Similarly, the modes through which science is produced, validated, and disseminated reveal the power relations and epistemological assumptions underpinning dominant forms of knowledge. The CTSP case offers a paradigmatic lens through which to examine these dynamics: it exemplifies a counter-hegemonic form of knowledge production rooted in collective experience, class conflict, and political struggle, which challenges the ostensibly neutral character of institutional science and confronts the dominant regime of truth imposed by official scientific authority and the state.
Keywords: Seveso; People; Non-neutrality; Science; Regime of truth.