Science and Expert Activism in Environmental Movements

Science and expertise have always been particularly relevant in conflicts regarding the environment. A number of environmental problems would not exist without the role of scientific knowledge that first discover them and then frame them as such. Nevertheless, the salience of environmental problems depends not only on the scientific consensus expressed inside expert communities, but also on the capacity of scientific knowledge to reach public attention and relevance. For this reason, science and expert activism are crucial for many public problems, and especially those regarding nature and the environment. In this regard, relations between scientists and social movements have been historically visible at different waves and cycles, from the emergence of pacifist mobilizations criticizing the risks of nuclear weapons during the Cold War to the post-1968 political ecology groups. At every cycle of contention, new forms or experiences of scientific activism emerged, in the form of scientific movement organizations like Science for the People in the US, specific units dedicated to the production of environmental expertise in movement organizations like the Science Unit of Greenpeace International, or alternative institutions dedicated to the environment, like the Wuppertal Institute in Germany or the networks of Eco-Institutes in Italy. The production of scientific expertise was indeed a key aspect of activism challenging the idea of technological neutrality of scientific research, criticizing its relations to the industrial-military complex, and claiming for expert knowledge able to respond to the needs of a democratic and just society