Contesting Global Environmental Knowledge, Norms and Governance / Edition 1

by M. J. Peterson

Overview

Through theoretical discussions and case studies, this volume explores how processes of contestation about knowledge, norms, and governance processes shape efforts to promote sustainability through international environmental governance.

The epistemic communities literature of the 1990s highlighted the importance of expert consensus on scientific knowledge for problem definition and solution specification in international environmental agreements. This book addresses a gap in this literature - insufficient attention to the multiple forms of contestation that also inform international environmental governance. These forms include within-discipline contestation that helps forge expert consensus, inter-disciplinary contestation regarding the types of expert knowledge needed for effective response to environmental problems, normative and practical arguments about the proper roles of experts and laypersons, and contestation over how to combine globally developed norms and scientific knowledge with locally prevalent norms and traditional knowledge in ways ensuring effective implementation of environmental policies. This collection advances understanding of the conditions under which contestation facilitates or hinders the development of effective global environmental governance. The contributors examine how attempts to incorporate more than one stream of expert knowledge and to include lay knowledge alongside it have played out in efforts to create and maintain multilateral agreements relating to environmental concerns.

It will interest scholars and graduate students of political science, global governance, international environmental politics, and global policy making. Policy analysts should also find it useful.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138054738
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/23/2019
Series:	Transforming Environmental Politics and Policy
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

M.J. Peterson earned her PhD at Columbia University and is Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst USA. Her research focuses on the workings of international organizations, multilateral governance of global commons areas, and technology. Her work has been published in Global Governance, International Organization, and Review of International Organizations.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Contestation in International Environmental Governance Part I Contestation over Relevant Scientific Expertise Chapter 2 Linking Scientific Knowledge and Multilateral Environmental Governance Chapter 3 Still Saving the Mediterranean? Expert Communities, Regionalization, and Institutional Change Chapter 4 Measurement Practices and Evolutionary Global Institutions Part II Contestation over the Uses of Expert and Lay Knowledge in Formulating Policy Chapter 5 Global Transdisciplinary Science and Sustainable Development Governance Chapter 6 Climate Change Denial in the United States and the European Union Chapter 7 Science and Policy in the International Whaling Commission Part III Contestation over the Uses of Expert and Lay Knowledge in Implementing Policy Chapter 8 Stakeholder Access to Norm Validation: Whose Practices Count in Global International Relations? Chapter 9 Global Conservation and Local Lore in a Post-Colonial Society: How Traditional Environmental Knowledge Shapes the Implementation of International Environmental Agreements on Protected Areas Part IV Epistemic Communities and Contestation Chapter 10 Reflections Contested Knowledge and Those Who Study It