Science, Society and Power: Environmental Knowledge and Policy in West Africa and the Caribbean / Edition 1

by James Fairhead, Melissa Leach

Overview

This book brings science to the heart of debates about globalization by exploring the globalization of science and its contrasting effects in Guinea (one of the world's poorest countries) and Trinidad (a more prosperous, industrialized and urbanized island). It focuses on environment, forestry and conservation, sciences that are central to these countries and involve resources that many depend upon for their livelihoods. Taking a unique ethnographic approach drawn from anthropology, development and science studies, the work will appeal to students and researchers across the social sciences, as well as policy-makers and practitioners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521535663
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/16/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

James Fairhead is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex. He has jointly authored, with Melissa Leach, Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in a Forest-Savanna Mosaic (CUP, 1996) and Reframing Deforestation: Global Analyses and Local Realities - Studies in West Africa (1998).

Melissa Leach is Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. She has jointly authored, with James Fairhead, Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in a Forest-Savanna Mosaic (CUP, 1996) and Reframing Deforestation: Global Analyses and Local Realities - Studies in West Africa (1998).

Table of Contents

1. Science and society: an ethnographic approach; 2. Science and globalising in governance; 3. Science and policy in Trinidad and Guinea: comparative settings; 4. Biodiversity and conservation in Guinea; 5. Biodiversity and conservation in Trinidad; 6. Sustainable timber production and forest management in Guinea; 7. Sustainable timber production and forest management in Trinidad; 8. Science and policy in society: mass-media and education; 9. Reflections on science, society and power.

Editorial Reviews

'In this timely book, Fairhead and Leach … effectively demolish persistent stereotypes associated with science, governance, development, and globalization … Science, Society, and Power presents a rich and detailed narrative accompanied by insightful analysis. It should provoke a much-needed re-evaluation of the 'Risk Society' hypothesis, which characterizes community engagement with science as a peculiarity of late modernity.' Steve Rayner, Director, ESRC Science in Society Programme and Professor of Science in Society, University of Oxford

'A remarkable and fascinating book. Fairhead and Leach combine the ethnographic study of two 'developing' countries with a thorough grasp of wider theoretical debates over science and society. They bring a much-needed anthropological perspective to issues of scientific governance and the social relations of science and policy. Our understanding of the international and local dynamics of environmental practice is accordingly transformed. This book has significant implications for both social scientific understanding and the development of future forms of governance. At a time when the interaction of social life and scientific practice is more important than ever, Science, Society and Power addresses crucial issues and deserves a very wide readership.' Alan Irwin, Brunel University

From the Publisher