STS Currents against the “Anti-Science” Tide

Abby J. Kinchy

doi:10.17351/ests2020.305

Abby J. Kinchy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2020.305

Keywords: social movements, activism, politics, climate, environment

Abstract

This essay considers some possible relationships that STS scholars can have with activists who are resisting attacks on environmental science. STS scholars can document the counter-currents to the “anti-science” moment, work in partnership with activists outside of academia, use access to institutional resources to give environmental movements strength, use STS research to help activists better understand the policy process and the history of science funding, and help people to develop a sociological imagination about science and the environment.

Author Biography

Abby J. Kinchy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Abby Kinchy is a sociologist and associate professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. She is the author of Science by the People: Participation, Power, and the Politics of Environmental Knowledge (Rutgers, 2019). Her current research explores collaborative, community-based approaches to studying urban soil contamination.

References

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