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Post-truth theories inscribe the credibility gained in the public sphere by forms of knowledge refused by science within the framework of an epistemic crisis involving the value of truth for which irrational, populist, and conspiracy groups are to be blamed. In this contribution, we test the presence of widespread argumentative repertoires in support of knowledge refused by science among laypeople who are generally trusting science. Through a situationally framed protocol for focus groups, participants were asked to discuss knowledge claims refused by science concerning health and wellness issues. The analysis is based on 14 focus groups related to four different topics: 1) vaccination hesitancy; 2) the Five Biological Laws; 3) the benefits of alkaline water and of an alkaline diet; and 4) the risks associated with 5G technologies. Multiple argumentative repertoires were identified that mobilised a) experience of the fallibility of medical science; b) the unaccountability of institutions legitimated to produce health-related knowledge; and c) pragmatic investments and participation in networks of associations on which healthcare practices are based. The socio-pragmatic dimension of knowledge appears to be the ground for reconsidering the integration of knowledge claims in ecosystems sustaining everyday life choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the official journal of the ESA, European Societies was asked to publish this report because of its special interest for the readers. This is a slightly shortened version of the first report on National Sociological Associations which was submitted to the European Sociological Association in November 2014. A series of relevant tables can be found on the ESA site:http://www.europeansociology.org/national-associations.html.ABSTRACT:This report presents the results of a survey on the National Associations of Sociology in Europe conducted in the years 2012–2013 by the European Sociological Association (ESA) under the auspices of its Committee for National Associations. The National Associations of Sociology were progressively established and institutionalized throughout the twentieth century, each one reflecting the political circumstances of the European Continent at the time. Of the 40 associations surveyed, 10% were in existence in 1950, which shows that the consolidation of the associative movement of sociologists in Europe is generally quite recent and gradually built up over the course of a century or more. The size of each association in terms of numbers of members is a key dimension in understanding how sociology is organized throughout Europe. The same may be said of the difficulties encountered when establishing the ESA as recently as 1992. The results of the survey show that the European sociological community is the aggregate of several parallel currents going back well over a hundred years. Each current has generated as many tributaries as there are individual academic and professional corporations operating in the dozens of countries where sociology has been able to take root and develop, whilst favoured – or sometimes opposed – by university and social policies, governments and public or private bodies. Moreover, each country has its own story to tell about the particular claims and losses, its ups and downs, advances and set-backs that sociology as a discipline has experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]