Using the boundaries of science to do boundary-work among scientists: pollution and purity claims

Swedlow, Brendon

doi:10.3152/030234207x264953

Cited by 35 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This theory-development article uses evidence from a case study of scientists' involvement in changing policy regarding the management of the northern spotted owl and old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest to illustrate its theoretical and conceptual innovations. This article builds on, combines, and goes significantly beyond two prior science studies publications of mine, one on boundary-work and pollution and purity claims (Swedlow, 2007) and another on the cultural coproduction of social order, constructs of nature, and environmental policy (Swedlow, 2012), which use evidence from the same case study to illustrate their related but distinct theoretical and conceptual innovations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three Cultural Boundaries of Science, Institutions, and Policy: A Cultural Theory of Coproduction, Boundary‐Work, and Change

Swedlow

2017

Review of Policy Research

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To help explain the role scientists play in policy change, concepts such as coproduction, boundary‐work, and pollution and purity claims as they are used in science studies should be incorporated into policy theory. Moreover improved policy theory should specify the kinds of boundary‐work that can occur and the kinds of values and beliefs that drive boundary‐work, explaining how boundary‐work leads to policy change. The cultural theory (CT) developed by Mary Douglas, Michael Thompson, Aaron Wildavsky, and others can help specify conditions for coproduction and change in science, institutions, and policy when recast as a theory involving three critical institutional boundaries. This theory‐development article uses this recast version of CT to help explain the most recent dramatic shift in federal land and wildlife management policy in the Pacific Northwest. The article illustrates how cultural combatants use boundary‐work including pollution and purity claims to align themselves and the domain of authoritative science with scientists whose constructs of nature and policy prescriptions are functional for their preferred institutions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three Cultural Boundaries of Science, Institutions, and Policy: A Cultural Theory of Coproduction, Boundary‐Work, and Change

Swedlow

2017

Review of Policy Research

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“…More specifically, one member of the rural caucus described researchers as “normally introverted” people, thus suggesting that their verdicts were driven by their “responsibility” and “ethical commitment” with the truth and not by vanity or desire for economic gain (Brasil, ) . Such a strategy is similar to the attempts, analyzed by Swedlow (, p. 640), to portray some researchers as apolitical, antisocial, and even asexual in order to suggest that their work is motivated only by the desire for truth, rather than by worldly passions.…”

Section: Actors and Alliances In The New Biosafety Lawmentioning

confidence: 68%

Science and Politics in the Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms in Brazil

Mitre

Reis

2014

Review of Policy Research

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This paper analyzes the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Brazil, focusing on the debates that preceded the enactment in 2005 of the current Biosafety Law and the factors (both domestic and international) that influenced the policy‐making process. More specifically, it identifies the social and governmental actors that influenced the congressional debates, showing how their interests and agenda were translated into two different institutional frameworks. Here, the policy outcome was what we call a “hybrid” and “conciliatory” regulatory model, which formally acknowledges the importance of both technical/scientific and social/political considerations in the evaluation of GMO biosafety and engages most of the stakeholders in the regulatory process. The new policy regime also establishes a middle ground between the conflicting demands of promoting agricultural development and protecting the country's biodiversity.

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“…Therefore, they are more likely to have negative thoughts about protest‐based environmental activities that violate current institutional arrangements. In contrast, because egalitarians believe liberty and equality are more important than social order and stability (Ripberger et al., ; Swedlow, ), they believe everyone in society should have an equal opportunity to make collective decisions. Environmental activities, such as protests and environmental conferences, are considered opportunities that allow everyone to participate in and make decisions by themselves.…”

Section: Cultural Influences On Public Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Radical Is Too Radical? Public Perception of Taiwanese Environmental Nonprofit Organizations’ Activism*

Liu

2018

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective This study sought answers to two important unasked questions: (1) How does the Taiwanese public perceive different types of environmental activism initiated by environmental nonprofit organizations (ENPOs)? And (2) How does culture influence these perceptions? Methods This study utilized cultural theory (CT) to develop hypotheses to test data collected through an online survey in Taiwan. Results The evidence confirms what CT predicted: egalitarians tended to consider protest‐based environmental activities as effective and acceptable, while individualists tended to have negative thoughts about the effectiveness and acceptance of protest‐based activities. Conclusion This study found that CT can also be helpful in studying environmental activism, especially in countries, like Taiwan, where ideological lines and partisan differences on environmental issues are not clear. Moreover, compared to conventional partisan and ideological explanations, CT better explains the determinants of public perceptions regarding environmental activities.

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Using the boundaries of science to do boundary-work among scientists: pollution and purity claims

Cited by 35 publications

References 53 publications

Three Cultural Boundaries of Science, Institutions, and Policy: A Cultural Theory of Coproduction, Boundary‐Work, and Change

Three Cultural Boundaries of Science, Institutions, and Policy: A Cultural Theory of Coproduction, Boundary‐Work, and Change

Science and Politics in the Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms in Brazil

How Radical Is Too Radical? Public Perception of Taiwanese Environmental Nonprofit Organizations’ Activism*

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