The Meaning and Significance of Lay Expertise

Abstract

Abstract This chapter revisits and defends the concept of “lay expertise,” analyses its defining characteristics, and specifies a research agenda. It argues that lay experts play a critical role in contemporary struggles around knowledge production, technological development, civic engagement, and democratization. It begins by providing context for understanding lay expertise by tracing the term’s entry into discourse and subsequent spread. Taking into account critiques of the concept, the chapter offers a characterization of key dimensions of lay expertise, emphasizing not only the kinds of participants and the knowledge and values they bring to their work, but also the fundamentally collective character of lay expertise in its prototypical form. Finally, the chapter points to gaps in our understanding of two important topics: Through what pathways does lay expertise develop? And what are the political dilemmas and complications to which its deployment gives rise?

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