Dear Stephan,
As a Brit living in Germany, I've been following both the Guttenberg story
and this PSCI-COM thread with interest.
I think, though, that translating 'Wissenschaft' as 'science' is very
misleading ('pressure from the scientific world', 'scientific integrity',
'science minister Annette Schavan'). A more appropriate translation in most
cases would be 'academic'. The outcry came from academics from all fields
(and as has been pointed out by other PSCI-COMmers, zu Guttenberg is not a
scientist, but a law graduate); the concern is about the integrity of German
academia, not science; and Annette Schavan is the federal minister of
education and research (not only science). Not that the story shouldn't be
of interest to scientists, but it's not a story primarily about science.
Incidentally, I find Francis's comment ('In this case, what we are
witnessing is a combination of Volksmacht, Schadenfreude, high-minded
principle, and an unwillingness to allow an intensely annoying aristocratic
sleb to take the p**s. In no particular order of importance.') very
accurate. Zu Guttenberg's gelled hair and aristocratic title seem to be at
least as offensive to many Germans as his plagiarised PhD.
Best regards,
Eleanor
On 01/03/2011 11:10, "Stephan Matthiesen" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> are there any social scientist here who would like to analyse what's
> been going on Germany, especially the reaction of the scientific world
> and their influence? I think it's quite amazing and could give a lot of
> insight into the role of science in (German) society.
>
> Until a few days ago, zu Guttenberg was a popular minister who attracted
> very little criticism, and now today he resigned - mostly due to the
> enormous pressure from the scientific world, from the students as well
> as the top ranks. Not for something he has done in politics, but for not
> taking scientific integrity seriously.
>
> It's also interesting to see that the outcry goes across all parties,
> even conservative politicians with a science background came out openly
> in support of scientific integrity, even though they said that he's
> still a good politician.
>
> Besides the open letter, signed now by 30000 Ph.D. students and
> supporters, there has been another letter signed by 1000 university
> professors
> (http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2011-03/guttenberg-professoren-doktora
> nden).
>
> The science minister (!), Annette Schavan, said yesterday she, as a
> scientist, was "ashamed" of what zu Guttenberg has done (although he
> should remain in his post as "everybody deserves a second chance").
>
> The science speaker of the free democrats (part of the coalition
> government!) said that "Guttenberg doesn't realise how much he is
> damaging German science".
>
> Angela Merkel, who initially ridiculed the whole thing, made a U-turn
> and said yesterday that she "can understand why scientists are upset".
>
> There have been more statements by influential science funders, for
> example Margaret Wintermantel, President of the Conference of University
> Rectors, gave an interview to the extreme left-green-alternative
> newspaper taz.
>
> Just now the news came in that he resigned.
>
> Any social scientist who would like to analyse the whole story?
>
> Cheers
> Stephan
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