39: Science, Technology and Environmental Politics

Manny Teodoro, Colgate University, mteodoro@colgate.edu

Perhaps nowhere else on Earth are the politics of science, technology, and the environment as palpable as they are in New Orleans and the Gulf coast region. Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon spill, and 2011 Mississippi River floods illustrate powerfully the political relationships between humans, technology, and the environment. Halfway around the world, the 2011 Japanese tsunami and resulting Fukushima nuclear disaster have citizens, scientists, and politicians re-evaluating environmental and technological policies.

At some level, the causes and effects of these events are products of local, national, and international politics. How do political institutions shape the decisions that prevent, cause, mitigate, or exacerbate environmental problems? How do citizens, interest groups, and political leaders affect environmental policies? The meeting’s theme of renewal takes on a unique meaning for this division because it connotes renewable. How do political systems foster or frustrate renewable technologies? How do the politics of scientific research affect the diffusion of these innovations?

The section seeks theoretically and methodologically rigorous proposals that address the conference themes and contribute to our knowledge of science, technology, and environmental politics generally. Proposals that integrate across these fields, and that engage scholars from other sections are also strongly encouraged. Particularly welcome are proposals that take up the politics of recent focusing events like the Deepwater Horizon and Fukushima nuclear disasters.