Quale scienza per quale popolo? L’esperienza del Comitato Tecnico Scientifico Popolare di Seveso (1976-1978)

This contribution aims to explore the concepts of “popular science” throu- gh the historical experience of the Popular Technical-Scientific Committee (CTSP), established in the aftermath of the Icmesa disaster in Meda-Seveso on July 10, 1976. At the core of this analysis are the notions of the non-neutrality of science and the regime of truth: the former refers to the structural and social conditions shaping the production of scientific knowledge within capitalist societies, highlighting how scien- ce is embedded in material relations and historical determinations; the latter, rooted in Foucault’s thought, is useful on the discursive level, as it describes the ensem- ble of mechanisms, practices, and institutions that determine what is recognized as true within a given historical context. The ways in which the notion of “people” is constructed and mobilized serve as a particularly sensitive indicator of the political and epistemic orientation of a given social formation. Similarly, the modes through which science is produced, validated, and disseminated reveal the power relations and epistemological assumptions underpinning dominant forms of knowledge. The CTSP case offers a paradigmatic lens through which to examine these dynamics: it exemplifies a counter-hegemonic form of knowledge production rooted in collecti- ve experience, class conflict, and political struggle, which challenges the ostensibly neutral character of institutional science and confronts the dominant regime of truth imposed by official scientific authority and the state.