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- All Subjects: Disinterestedness
- All Subjects: global development
- Creators: Chhetri, Nalini
Description
Without scientific expertise, society may make catastrophically poor choices when faced with problems such as climate change. However, scientists who engage society with normative questions face tension between advocacy and the social norms of science that call for objectivity and neutrality. Policy established in 2011 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) required their communication to be objective and neutral and this research comprised a qualitative analysis of IPCC reports to consider how much of their communication is strictly factual (Objective), and value-free (Neutral), and to consider how their communication had changed from 1990 to 2013. Further research comprised a qualitative analysis of structured interviews with scientists and non-scientists who were professionally engaged in climate science communication, to consider practitioner views on advocacy. The literature and the structured interviews revealed a conflicting range of definitions for advocacy versus objectivity and neutrality. The practitioners that were interviewed struggled to separate objective and neutral science from attempts to persuade, and the IPCC reports contained a substantial amount of communication that was not strictly factual and value-free. This research found that science communication often blurred the distinction between facts and values, imbuing the subjective with the authority and credibility of science, and thereby damaging the foundation for scientific credibility. This research proposes a strict definition for factual and value-free as a means to separate science from advocacy, to better protect the credibility of science, and better prepare scientists to negotiate contentious science-based policy issues. The normative dimension of sustainability will likely entangle scientists in advocacy or the appearance of it, and this research may be generalizable to sustainability.
ContributorsMcClintock, Scott (Author) / Van Der Leeuw, Sander (Thesis advisor) / Klinsky, Sonja (Committee member) / Chhetri, Nalini (Committee member) / Hannah, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Development is a compelling, but imprecise goal. Although the concept can motivate action and mobilize resources, fundamental questions about what it means to ‘develop’ and what actions are required to achieve that goal remain the subject of intense debate. Faced with this uncertainty, development actors can look to two sources of guidance: other disciplines, or the practice of development itself. This dissertation explores the origins of the theories which guide development action and argues that in order for development to deliver on its mandate it must reject supposedly universal theories borrowed from other disciplines (‘exogenous’ theories) and instead must develop contingent, local theories based in the on-the-ground experiences of those doing development (‘endogenous’ theories).
This argument is demonstrated using the case of innovation theory in Guyana. Innovation and development are both popular ways to make sense of change and in recent decades they have become conflated, with innovation being presented as a near-universal fix for development problems. This discourse has taken root in Guyana, where the recent discovery of oil has made the questions of development increasingly urgent and the promise of innovation increasingly attractive. The argument proceeds in four phases:
Chapter one explores how and why certain theories become influential in development, then discusses the implications of doing development work based on ‘exogenous’ versus ‘endogenous’ theory. It then proposes four guidelines for the use of theory in development.
Chapter two traces how innovation came to become understood as a solution to development problems, and assesses whether and under what conditions it can be expected to contribute to development.
Chapter three turns to Guyana, and builds on interviews and participant observation to present an endogenous theory of innovation in Guyana. The chapter also explores the practical and methodological challenges of building such a theory.
Chapter four compares the endogenous theory of innovation presented in the previous chapter to several dominant exogenous theories, exploring the policy implications of each and demonstrating why the endogenous theory provides a superior source of guidance for development action in Guyana.
ContributorsBarton, Chris J (Author) / Crow, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Derrick (Thesis advisor) / Grossman, Gary (Committee member) / Chhetri, Nalini (Committee member) / Calhoun, Craig (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023