Technoscientific futures: Public framing of science

Using the broader framework of science and technology studies and insights from social research on public understanding of science, this paper discusses specific aspects of the public perception of science. It is accomplished by means of analysing public discourses of ignorance as well as the interrelations between discourses of science-in-general and science-in-particular in lay narratives, thereby advancing the approach originally developed by Mike Michael [24,25]. This study is based on two empirical cases of futureoriented science-related matters, climate change and biomedicine (xenotransplantation). Discourse analysis is applied to two thematic focus groups in Latvia between 2008 and 2009. The analysis introduces a set of more specific rhetorical devices and discursive strategies employed by laypeople in reflecting on the role of science and in providing their assessment of modern technoscientific solutions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.