What we learned from AIDS and electro-sensitivity: Vulnerable communities and their empowerment

Abstract

21st century science has recruited amateurs and aficionados as a workforce to undertake large projects. Citizen science shows a large variety of models that can produce knowledge. Citizen science supposedly represents a democratic shift and as a result experts and expertise have been questioned. However, vulnerable and/or concerned communities may be a group, or "subtype", that can be represented within citizen science. To analyze that subtype we must take into account the risk of exclusion and the notion of concerned community. ACT UP´s AIDS campaign is a good example of how to achieve changes on both politics and knowledge; electro-sensitivity is another case of success in the era of the internet. Both movements have deeply influenced online activism related to AIDS and electro-sensitivity. Nevertheless, a cautious approach should be taken because it is possible to transform those strategies into revenue sources that may risk vulnerability and exclusion.