Doublescience (Social Control Theory)

The deployment of science in two opposing registers: science as authority when it supports the powerful, science as uncertain when it challenges them. Doublescience appears in debates about climate change, public health, and technology regulation—where the same institution can be “settled” for some purposes and “needs more research” for others. It is science selectively weaponized.

Doublescience (Social Control Theory) Example: “The industry used ‘sound science’ to block regulation, then ‘precaution’ when the science threatened profits—doublescience, wielding scientific authority like a switchblade.”

by Abzugal March 27, 2026