STS Research Seminar: Sujatha Raman (ANU)

Bridging the languages of material reality and social justice? STS reflections on the International Resource Panel 

Numerous STS studies since the 1980s have highlighted the limits of narrow ‘science-first’ models of expert advice. With the rise of global environmental assessments and associated science advisory panels, a transdisciplinary community of scholars have further extended and deepened the critique of scientism. In recent years, scholars have built on these critical insights to outline normative visions and frameworks for cosmopolitan approaches to expertise for global environmental challenges (e.g., Beck & Mahony 2018; Hulme 2010; Jasanoff 2011; Raman & Pearce 2020). However, examples of (potentially) cosmopolitan expertise are few and far between in this literature (exceptions include Beck et al 2014; Borie et al 2021). In this talk, I will explore the work of the UN International Resource Panel (IRP) and ask if and how the Panel departs from a ‘science-first’ model of expertise. The Panel was launched in 2007 to build expert knowledge for improving global use of resources. Drawing on Sheila Jasanoff’s work on what makes expertise robust, I will explore if the IRP is able to bridge the language of material reality with the language of social justice.