The Council for Science and Society and the Politics of Expertise, 1972–1990

Abstract This article examines the origins and operations of the Council for Science and Society (CSS), active in Britain between 1973 and 1990. Established in response to growing concerns about the social consequences of science and technology, the CSS sought to map emerging technoscientific issues through carefully constructed, expert-led reports on a range of topics, including the management of risk in large-scale technoscientific projects, the use of non-lethal weapons in policing, and the ethics of in-vitro genetic testing. The CSS unfolded against the backdrop of broader transformations in British society during the 1970s and 1980s. Changes in government funding for science, a series of industrial crises, and debates about the role of science in the Cold War informed much of the work the CSS undertook. Throughout its existence, the CSS often occupied an uneasy position, attempting to interrogate technocratic authority while continuing to lobby for its support. The trajectory of the CSS also intersected with the British Radical Science Movement, or the largely scientist-led effort that emerged in the late 1960s to challenge claims of scientific neutrality. Although the two overlapped in membership and problem selection, they pursued distinct strategies and political imaginaries. Despite its proximity to British policymakers and the British Radical Science Movement, the CSS has received virtually no sustained scholarly attention. This article thus aims to bring the CSS back into view, situating it within broader histories of British science, democratic state governance, and the contested terrain of technoscientific critique.