Activism and engagement in the science of politics: Political Science as a site of STS analysis

• In Event: Science and Activism: STS and the Environment

Abstract

What can we learn about the politics of science by focusing on the politics (and non-politics) of Political Science? This paper takes the discipline/field/area of Political Science as practiced in the United States as a site of analysis to explore relationships between science and activism. With its roots typically recognized as an effort to improve decision-making through knowledge creation, the discipline has always experienced internal tension about its responsibilities and relationship to social/policy change.

We explore how the relationship between Political Science as an authoritative/expert field, the interests of scholars in the field, and activism have been understood and negotiated by focusing on events that have created opportunities for political scientists to examine a) the use of their produced knowledge (e.g., modeling the 2000/2016 presidential elections), b) their engagement with social change and activist movements (e.g., Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter), and c) their role in shaping policy (e.g., climate change, globalization).

We then describe how tensions and anxieties in the current moment play out for faculty and students within a Political Science department at our university, including increased opportunities for self-reflexivity about disciplinary practices/norms and the need to identify structures to support such exploration, including an emerging collaboration with our STS Minors Program.

We conclude by exploring how increased attention to the social sciences can better position STS to explore how science and activism intersect by serving as a resource for scholars seeking to understand and account for their own relationships between knowledge production and activism.

Authors

• Elizabeth A Lowham, California Polytechnic State University

• Jane L Lehr, California Polytechnic State University

• Elissa Feld, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo