Peter Weingart (born 5 June 1941 in
Marburg) is a German professor
emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
in sociology and former director of the
Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Bielefeld.
Life and academic career
Peter Weingart studied sociology and economics from 1961 until 1967 at
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
and
Freie Universität Berlin. Till 1968, he was University Fellow at
Princeton University in
New Jersey and received a doctorate 1969 at the Freie Universität Berlin. The thesis was about the American scientific lobby in the process of research planning.
Weingart had various assignments with the Berlin University and was science expert for the German unions economic institute in
Düsseldorf and directed the center of Science research at
Bielefeld University. 1973 he received a tenure in Bielefeld. In the mid-1980s, he received various fellowships at
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and
Harvard University. From 1989 until 2009 he was again in Bielefeld. Since 2015 Weingart has held the South African Research Chair in Science communication at
Stellenbosch University.
Weingart is member of
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
Institute for Advanced Study. He was among the editors of ''
Scientometrics
Scientometrics is the field of study which concerns itself with measuring and analysing scholarly literature. Scientometrics is a sub-field of informetrics. Major research issues include the measurement of the impact of research papers and academi ...
'', and ''
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
The ''International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in sociology and on social policy. The journal was established in 1981 and is published by Emerald Group Publishing. The editor-in- ...
''. and publisher of Yearbook Sociology of the Sciences and advisor for
Suhrkamp Verlag
Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag.
In January 2010 the ...
. He is the current
editor-in-chief of ''
Minerva''.
Positions and interests
Weingart started early to examine the production of knowledge and its interaction with politics and the media. His book ''Wissen Beraten Entscheiden'' (know, advise, decide) described forms of science advice to politics in Germany. He wrote as well a book about the science base for the German eugenics studies and their interaction with
Racial hygiene policy.
For the present, Weingart states a higher importance of
PR agencies intermediating between science and public and saw a trend of a more '
public science' within a
postindustrial information society. The media's role as the
fourth estate increases and influences science findings already in its production state. It may be attractive for some scientists to use their celebrity status in the media as means of gaining acceptance for their findings or for their preferred fields of study. Such celebrity bonuses however weaken
peer review controlling mechanisms. Weingart saw the hype about
of Daniel Goldhagen's books in Germany as such an example.
Weingart also took the
climate change debate as an example where the public announcement of findings may backfire. The public debate about
climate change in Germany was at its height around 1986, when the energy committee of the
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (AKE) predicted a
climate catastrophe rendering earth a dead planet within 50 years. The scientists asked in parallel to increase
nuclear power stations to reduce emissions. When
meteorologists started to criticize the alarmist tone, the AKE toned down its conclusions to climate change instead of climate disaster. However the public scene kept using the alarmist conclusions first and later on doubted scientists overall credibility on the topic.
Weingart prefers science communication to provide proof of uncertainties and ignorance combined with established facts. The basic aspects of "Verwissenschaftlichung der Gesellschaft – Politisierung der Wissenschaft" (a
of society and
politicization of science) go hand in hand.
Selected papers
* Susanne Koch, Peter Weingart
The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-making in South Africa and Tanzania African Minds, Cape Town 2016,
* Peter Weingart, Was ist gesellschaftlich relevante Wissenschaft?, in ''Keine Wissenschaft für sich: Essays zur gesellschaftlichen Relevanz von Forschung'',
Annette Schavan (Hrsg.), edition
Bergedorf Round Table, 2008,
* Peter Weingart, Justus Lentsch, ''Wissen Beraten Entscheiden. Form und Funktion wissenschaftlicher Politikberatung in Deutschland.'' Weiterswist 2008.
* Peter Weingart, Niels C. Taubert (Hg.), ''Das Wissensministerium. Ein halbes Jahrhundert Forschungs- und Bildungspolitik in Deutschland.'' Weilerswist 2006.
* Mark B. Brown, Justus Lentsch, Peter Weingart (Hg.), ''Politikberatung und Parlament'', Opladen 2006,
* Peter Weingart, Die Wissenschaft der Öffentlichkeit. Essays zum Verhältnis von Wissenschaft, Medien und Öffentlichkeit, Weilerswist 2005,
* Peter Weingart, Wissenschaftssoziologie, Bielefeld 2003,
* Peter Weingart, Anita Engels, Petra Pansegrau, Von der Hypothese zur Katastrophe – Der anthropogene Klimawandel im Diskurs zwischen Wissenschaft, Politik und Massenmedien, Leske + Budrich 2002,
* Peter Weingart, Die Stunde der Wahrheit? Zum Verhältnis der Wissenschaft zu Politik, Wirtschaft und Medien in der Wissensgesellschaft, Weilerswist 2001,
* Peter Weingart, Jürgen Kroll,
Kurt Bayertz
Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor.
In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...
: Rasse, Blut und Gene. Geschichte der Eugenik und Rassenhygiene in Deutschland. 3. Auflage. Frankfurt am Main 2001,
* Peter Weingart (Hg.), Grenzüberschreitungen in der Wissenschaft = Crossing boundaries in science, Baden-Baden 1995,
External links
*
Peter Weingart at Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der WissenschaftenWissenschaft und Medien: eine verhängnisvolle Affäre? Interview with Peter Weingart*
ttp://klimazwiebel.blogspot.de/2012/08/peter-weingart-grenzen.html Limits of policy advisoring, guest entry on Klimazwiebel, in GermanRezension von Die Stunde der Wahrheit? Vom Verhältnis der Wissenschaft zu Politik, Wirtschaft und Medien in der Wissensgesellschaft at H-Soz-u-KultWas ist gesellschaftlich relevante Wissenschaft?(PDF; 73 kB)
"Der alltägliche Betrug", Interview, DIE ZEIT Nr. 21/2003 (15. Mai 2003)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weingart, Peter
Living people
Non-fiction environmental writers
1941 births
Academic staff of Bielefeld University
German sociologists
German male writers