Against Providence: Public Responsibility, Predictive Science, and an Eventful History of Climate Disasters

• In Event: Science, Knowledge & Technology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 10: The Contested Science of Climate Crisis

Abstract

Into the nineteenth century, across diverse geographic contexts, misery was typically understood as a fateful lot. Tragedy was cosmic. Fortune was blessing. Disaster—providence.
The idea that calamitous events entail a public responsibility to protect populations and rebuild resilient livelihoods is a historical one. It has long been a contentious idea, realized only through struggle. Likewise, it was not always the case that disaster events marshalled expertise to explain, predict, and prevent them.
This paper outlines the theoretical framework for a project entitled Against Providence. This project builds a historical sociology of disasters, predictive science, and government. It then deploys this genealogical history to help understand climate governance today.

Author

• Zeke Baker, Sonoma State University