Conspiracy, Controversy, and Doubt: Consequences of Knowing and Unknowing

Abstract

STS scholars have long explored how different forms of knowledge are used to apprehend that which is unseen, uncertain, or imprecise. This panel takes these knowledge forms as a starting point for exploring the stakes and consequences of knowing and unknowing. How do we categorize, govern, or regulate the unknown or uncertain? How is trust produced in the enactment of certain forms of expertise, and what happens when that trust in expertise fails? Papers in this session approach this topic from a variety of case studies, including: the politics of sensing and regulating noise; modern epidemics and the generation of fear; temporal strategizing for radioactive waste management; conspiracy theories and public attitudes toward science; and public anxieties over seismic uncertainty.

Chair

• Jose Perillan, Vassar College

Individual Presentations

• Howling Winds: Sound, Sense and the Regulation of Noise - Michael S Mopas

• Localizing Science: A Case Study of Air Quality in Nairobi - Priyanka deSouza, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Who’s Afraid of Ebola? Epidemic Fires and Locative Fears - Wesley Shrum, Louisiana State University; Leandro Rodriguez Medina, Universidad de las Americas Puebla; John Kojo Aggrey, Louisiana State University; Paige Miller, University of Wisconsin, River Falls

• Demarcation Aftershocks: Failing to Understand Uncertainties - Jose Perillan, Vassar College

• Why Do “Trickster-Scientists” Appear in the Aftermath of Serious Accidents and Incidents Caused by Science and Technology? - Masashi Shirabe, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Session Organizer

• Emily Brooks, National Park Service