Fixing subjects, fixing outcomes: civic epistemologies and epistemic agency in participatory governance of climate risk

Bridel, Anna (2021) Fixing subjects, fixing outcomes: civic epistemologies and epistemic agency in participatory governance of climate risk. Science, Technology and Human Values. ISSN 1552-8251

Text (Bridel_fixing-subjects-fixing-outcomes--published) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (196kB)

Abstract

Participatory forms of policy-making have often been criticized for insufficiently theorizing the coproduction of publics and matters of concern. This paper seeks to investigate this relationship further by analyzing how the concept of civic epistemologies (CEs) can provide insights for understanding how political contexts shape both publics and contestable debates. Presenting fieldwork on cyclone governance in Odisha, India, based on the analysis of interviews with vulnerable fishing communities and state actors, the article shows how CEs influence the interdependent formation of vulnerable fisher and state subjectivities on one hand with representations of risk located in external biophysical atmospheric gases on the other, thereby sustaining reductive roles and futures. At the same time, the paper develops the concept of CEs by examining them as performative acts carried out by marginalized communities and state actors at the subnational level of a nonindustrialized country, thereby indicating sites at which epistemic agency can be increased and governed. Participatory knowledge production needs to understand how it is affected by CEs if it is to generate effective expertise for transformative futures in the face of increasing climatic risks.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/sth
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Author
Divisions:	International Development
Subjects:	J Political Science > JC Political theory
Date Deposited:	26 Nov 2021 11:48
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:45
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/112743

Actions (login required)

View Item