Refining Expertise: How Responsible Engineers Subvert Environmental Justice Challenges - Rilegato

Ottinger, Gwen

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0814762379 ISBN 13: 9780814762370

Casa editrice: New York Univ Pr, 2013

Riassunto

Winner of the 2015 Rachel Carson Prize presented by the Society for Social Studies of Science

Residentsof a small Louisiana town were sure that the oil refinery next door wasmaking them sick. As part of a campaign demanding relocation away from therefinery, they collected scientific data to prove it. Their campaign ended witha settlement agreement that addressed many of their grievances—but not concernsabout their health. Yet, instead of continuing to collect data, residents beganto let refinery scientists' assertions that their operations did notharm them stand without challenge. What makes a community moveso suddenly from actively challenging to apparently accepting experts'authority?

RefiningExpertise arguesthat the answer lies in the way that refinery scientists and engineers definedthemselves as experts. Rather than claiming to be infallible, they beganto portray themselves as responsible—committed to operating safelyand to contributing to the well-being of the community. The volume showsthat by grounding their claims to responsibility in influential ideas fromthe larger culture about what makes good citizens, nice communities, and moralcompanies, refinery scientists made it much harder for residents to challengetheir expertise and thus re-established their authority over scientificquestions related to the refinery's health and environmental effects.

GwenOttinger here shows how industrial facilities' current approaches todealing with concerned communities—approaches which leave much room fornegotiation while shielding industry's environmental and health claims fromcritique—effectively undermine not only individual grassroots campaigns butalso environmental justice activism and far-reaching effortsto democratize science. This work drives home the need for both activistsand politically engaged scholars to reconfigure their own activities inresponse, in order to advance community health and robust scientific knowledgeabout it.

Su questo libro

L'autore

Gwen Ottinger is Assistant Professor in the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, and the Department of History and Politics at Drexel University. She is co-editor of Technoscience and Environmental Justice: Expert Cultures in a Grassroots Movement.

Product Description

Residents of a small Louisiana town were sure that the oil refinery next door was making them sick. As part of a campaign demanding relocation away from the refinery, they collected scientific data to prove it. Their campaign ended with a settlement agreement that addressed many of their grievances - but not concerns about their health. Yet, instead of continuing to collect data, residents began to let refinery scientists' assertions that their operations did not harm them stand without challenge. What makes a community move so suddenly from actively challenging to apparently accepting experts' authority? Refining Expertise argues that the answer rests in the way that refinery scientists and engineers defined themselves as experts. Rather than claiming to be infallible, they began to portray themselves as responsible. This work drives home the need for both activists and politically engaged scholars to reconfigure their own activities in response, in order to advance community health and robust scientific knowledge about it.

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: New York Univ Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0814762379
• ISBN 13: 9780814762370
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 223
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile