Papers by Göran Sundqvist
Minerva, Apr 17, 2024
This article compares two science advisory organizations: the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate... more This article compares two science advisory organizations: the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), with a special focus on how their respective policy systems absorb the knowledge delivered for use in decision processes. The science-policy processes of these two organizations differ in important respects; ICES delivers highly specified knowledge to a specified uptake mechanism, while the IPCC produces unspecified knowledge for an unspecified uptake mechanism. Since both environmental governance areas are criticized for lack of needed action, a comparison is of interest asking how this might relate to the organization of science advice. As theoretical resources for this explorative comparison we utilize two approaches from the field of science and technology studies: the co-production approach, which focuses on the entanglements of scientific and political processes, and the systemstheory-oriented multiple-worlds model, which assumes a clear difference in institutional logics between the scientific and the political field. Since the IPCC has been critically analysed by several studies utilizing resources from the two approaches, we contribute with new insights by bringing in ICES, which is a much less studied organization exposing a different science-policy structure. One important finding is that the two theoretical approaches focus on different aspects, exposing 'links' and 'integration', both of which we argue are important for analysing and assessing science advisory organizations. Moreover, these aspects can be advantageously integrated into a single theoretical framework.
Critical Policy Studies, 2017
This article assesses how science-policy interactions are conceptualised in the social sciences w... more This article assesses how science-policy interactions are conceptualised in the social sciences with special reference to climate change and the IPCC. In terms of the dimension of distance (or proximity) between science and policy we discern two ideal-type cases: a 'two-worlds' and a 'one-world' perspective. The first understands science and policy as independent spheres separated by a clear gap, while the second perceives science and policy as tightly coupled. These two perspectives, presented here in detail and in various sub-variants in order to show their complexity appear dominant also in the discussions on how to improve, not only describe, the interaction between science and policy. We argue that this situation of opposing perspectives is not beneficial, nor properly recognised by scholars in the field. In response to this we present a typology that may serve as a modest and judicious way for thinking about and making more nuanced choices in designing science-policy relations.
Environment & Policy, 2002
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2022
Political Context rolf lidskog and gö ran sundqvist Overview The explicit aim of the Intergovernm... more Political Context rolf lidskog and gö ran sundqvist Overview The explicit aim of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is to influence policymaking. By synthesising research on climate change and presenting it to policymakers, the IPCC tries to meet its self-imposed goal of being policy-relevant and policy-neutral, but not policy-prescriptive. The hallmark of the IPCC has been to offer a strong scientific voice demonstrating the necessity of climate policy and action, but without giving firm political advice. Yet scholars have contested the idea of maintaining such a strong boundary between science and policy in the IPCC, questioning whether upholding this boundary has been successful and whether continuing to do so offers a viable way forward. The Paris Agreement provides a new political context for the IPCC, implying a need for solution-oriented assessments. The IPCC itself has also argued that large-scale transformations of society are needed to meet the targets set by the Agreement. To be relevant and influence policymaking in this new political context, the IPCC needs to provide policy advice. 209
Routledge eBooks, Jul 5, 2017
The aim of this article is to analyse the role of science in environmental regimes. The focus is ... more The aim of this article is to analyse the role of science in environmental regimes. The focus is on through which conceptual lenses social scientists should judge the role of science in this area. In answering this question, the article takes as its point of departure the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). Three key findings of SSK are central to understanding the role of science in environmental regimes, namely that knowledge never moves freely, that the value of science is the result of negotiations and that science and policy are co-produced. The usefulness and explanatory power of this perspective is illustrated by a case study of one of the most science-based regimes that exist today, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). By way of conclusion, it is stated that science has no strength in itself but is given strength by different institutions and actors, and this has to be explained by social scientists.
Sociologisk Forskning
Senter for teknologi, innovasjon og kultur (TIK), Universitetet i Oslo Mark Elam Avdelningen för ... more Senter for teknologi, innovasjon og kultur (TIK), Universitetet i Oslo Mark Elam Avdelningen för teknik och vetenskapsstudier, Sociologiska institutionen, Göteborgs universitet Sociology, Hybrids and Social Reality: The Case of Nuclear Waste The continuing technological transformation of nature means that sociology's traditional vision of a sharp divide between nature and society is becoming ever harder to defend. Star ting from Bruno Latour's critique of modernity, and Nikolas Rose's explorations of political power beyond the state, this article presents a framework for analysing the expanding wealth of hybrids of nature and society surrounding us today, and the problems of government they pose. These hybrids confront us with the need to rethink sociology's conception of 'the so cial'. With Latour's help, the interplay of nature and society can be understood as subject to technical mediation, opening the way for studies of the varying arrangements through which different configurations of nature and society are produced. Rather than alterna tive social constructions of nature, what sociologists should be at pains to analyse and question are different programmes and strategies for bringing together natural and social forces in durable combinations. In the article, the geological disposal of nuclear waste serves as a use ful example for exploring the fruitfulness of the analytical framework put forward. This complex undertaking constitutes just one component in a larger field of technoscientific endeavour that has irrevocably transformed nature while simultaneously remaking society. Addressing this case, we seek to reveal the promise of a sociology that does not bound 'the social' in advance, but rather makes the coproduction of technology and society one of its most important objects of study .
PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE Restricted t... more PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE Restricted to a group specified by the partners of the Modern2020 project CO Confidential, only for partners of the Modern2020 project and EC Deliverable 5.3-Repository Monitoring in the Context of Repository Governance Modern2020 (Deliverable n° 5.3
Science, Technology and Society, 2021
A strong social and technical divide is particularly visible in the predominant understanding of ... more A strong social and technical divide is particularly visible in the predominant understanding of technological innovation in modern societies. The field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) aims to overcome this divide, by focusing on the continuously entwined relationships between the social and the technical, that is, sociotechnical combinations. In this article, we argue that while it is reasonable to state that the social and the technical are entangled, it should be acknowledged that some issues are dealt with solutions that are more technical than others. A technical problematisation (the definition of an issue as a problem that is treated via a technical solution) is different to a social problematisation (the definition of an issue as a problem that is treated via a social solution) of the same issue. Our discussion is built upon examples from nuclear waste management, where the social–technical divide has been strong. However, more recently there has been a push for more...
MoDeRn D-1.3.1_Final_30-10-2012 2.2.2.2 Monitoring to assure the regulator Other than to acquire ... more MoDeRn D-1.3.1_Final_30-10-2012 2.2.2.2 Monitoring to assure the regulator Other than to acquire assurance or confirmation of repository performance and the basis for the models that support the safety case, monitoring is also seen as instrumental in showing compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. "… monitoring would also be carried out …: (1) to determine any radiological impacts of the operational disposal system (as with a nuclear installation, like a power plant) on the personnel and on the general population, in order to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements; (2) to determine non-radiological impacts on the environment surrounding the repository, to comply with environmental regulatory requirements (e.g. impacts of excavation and surface construction on local water supply rates and water quality); (3) to ensure compliance with non-nuclear industrial safety requirements for an underground facility (e.g. dust, gas, noise, etc.)." (IAEA 2001: 3) 42 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment-85/337/EEC-OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40. 43 "… public groups can be expected to bring more than blank sheets of paper to environmental debate: memories of previous incidents, moral judgements and forms of local knowledge can all play a part in local understandings of environmental issues and in the very construction of those 'issues'." (Irwin 2001: 96) 58 This paraphrases an intervention during a plenary discussion at a conference on societal aspects of radioactive waste management (SKB Spring Talks, 3-4 May 2011, Stockholm), and echoes a phrase adopted by the US Chemical Manufacturers' Association in the late-1980s as a slogan for its Responsible Care programme: "don't trust us, track us" (see Simmons and Wynne 1993). 59 'Monitoring system' here refers to the overall socio-technical framework of monitoring arrangements (see also footnote 56).
This report is the product of research activity within the EC Seventh Framework Programme “Monito... more This report is the product of research activity within the EC Seventh Framework Programme “Monitoring Developments for Safe Repository Operation and Staged Closure” (MoDeRn) Project. This project aims to further develop understanding of the role of monitoring in staged implementation of geological disposal to a level of description that is closer to the actual implementation of monitoring. It focuses on monitoring conducted to confirm the basis of the long term safety case and on monitoring conducted to inform on options available to manage the stepwise disposal process from construction to closure (including e.g. the option of waste retrieval). This report investigates the potential of citizen stakeholder engagement in the identification of monitoring objectives and the development of monitoring strategies for geological disposal of high level waste (HLW) or spent nuclear fuel (SNF). It builds on an earlier MoDeRn report describing monitoring the safe disposal of radioactive waste ...
InSOTEC is a social sciences research project which aims to generate a better understanding of th... more InSOTEC is a social sciences research project which aims to generate a better understanding of the complex interplay between the technical and the social in radioactive waste management and, in particular, in the design and implementation of geological disposal. It currently investigates and analyses the most striking socio-technical challenges to implementing geological disposal of radioactive waste in 14 national programs. A focus is put on situations and issues where the relationship between the technical and social components is still unstable, ambiguous and controversial, and where negotiations are taking place in terms of problem definitions and preferred solutions. Such negotiations can vary from relatively minor contestations, over mild commotion, to strong and open conflicts. Concrete examples of sociotechnical challenges are: the question of siting, introducing the notion of reversibility / retrievability into the concept of geological disposal, or monitoring for confidenc...
Många miljöproblem som klimatförändringar, ozonskiktsuttunning, tilltagande kemikalisering, atomr... more Många miljöproblem som klimatförändringar, ozonskiktsuttunning, tilltagande kemikalisering, atomrisker påminner oss om att vår värld hänger samman såväl geografiskt som tidsmässigt. Miljöproblemen har utvecklats från att ha varit lokala till att bli globala. De ...
Sosiologi i dag, 2015
Var forstaelse av klimaendringene domineres av tall og naturvitenskapelig kunnskap. Selv om bade ... more Var forstaelse av klimaendringene domineres av tall og naturvitenskapelig kunnskap. Selv om bade forskere og beslutningstakere onsker et tett forhold mellom vitenskap og politikk, for eksempel gjennom FNs klimapanel, forutsetter de fleste aktorer at disse to sfaerene opererer adskilt fra hverandre. Gjennom en naermere undersokelse av en enkelt faktaboks i FNs klimapanels fjerde hovedrapport, utfordrer vi i denne artikkelen den puristiske forestillingen om et klart skille mellom vitenskap og politikk. Den sakalte âBali-boksenâ fikk en framtredende rolle i forhandlingene om en ny internasjonal klimaavtale fram mot Kobenhavn-toppmotet i 2009, fordi den ble ansett a gi et vitenskapelig og kvantifisert svar pa sporsmalet om fordeling av ansvar for klimaendringer mellom Nord og Sor. Den puristiske forstaelsen av Bali-boksen som âren vitenskapâ forte imidlertid til et tilbakeslag da aktorer i forhandlingene ble oppmerksomme pa boksens âureneâ bindinger til politiske hensyn og m...
Climatic Change
It is widely accepted that the Paris Agreement implies a shift in global climate mitigation polic... more It is widely accepted that the Paris Agreement implies a shift in global climate mitigation policy from a top-down approach focused on global distribution of emission cuts and international cost-effectiveness to a bottom-up approach based on national efforts. Less is known about how this shift at the global level trickles down and manifests in national climate mitigation policy. Norway is in this respect an interesting example, since it has long been portrayed as an important driver of an international top-down approach. In this paper, we demonstrate that Norwegian policy cannot be characterised as a ‘pure’ top-down regime; policy instruments and measures directed at specific technology investments and deployment to complement cost-effective (international) policy instruments have been an explicit government ambition for a long time. Second, by using the case of biofuels, we analyse how the two approaches have been combined in practice over the past decade. Using the notion of ‘hybr...
These proposed guidelines are recommendations that have emerged from the European Union Research ... more These proposed guidelines are recommendations that have emerged from the European Union Research Project ARGONA (Arenas for Risk Governance), Contract no.: FP6-036413 The ARGONA project intended to demonstrate how participation and transparency link to the political and legal systems and how new approaches can be implemented in nuclear waste management programmes. Thereby, studies have been done of the institutional and cultural context within which processes of participation and transparency take place in order to understand how the processes can be implemented. The project also included studies of theory in order to build participation and transparency on a firm ground, a number of case studies in Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and UK, as well as implementation in Czech Republic to make a difference, learn and demonstrate.
European Journal of International Relations, 2002
The aim of this article is to analyse the role of science in environmental regimes. The focus is ... more The aim of this article is to analyse the role of science in environmental regimes. The focus is on through which conceptual lenses social scientists should judge the role of science in this area. In answering this question, the article takes as its point of departure the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). Three key findings of SSK are central to understanding the role of science in environmental regimes, namely that knowledge never moves freely, that the value of science is the result of negotiations and that science and policy are co-produced. The usefulness and explanatory power of this perspective is illustrated by a case study of one of the most science-based regimes that exist today, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP). By way of conclusion, it is stated that science has no strength in itself but is given strength by different institutions and actors, and this has to be explained by social scientists.
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Papers by Göran Sundqvist