SYMPOSIUM: Experts and the Global Environment in the 20th Century: A History of Coproduction and Negotiation

In the 20th Century, an increasing group of people believed nature to be under threat – not only locally, but worldwide. In light of this state of affairs, many were convinced that the only efficient response thinkable was international and science-based. Despite a relatively broad agreement on this general point, there was still ample room for debate within the conservation and the environmental community. Which nature was seen as internationally valuable and which experts could count as its spokespersons was, after all, a continued matter of negotiation. In this negotiation, the definition of the problem went hand in hand with the description of the type of expertise needed for the solution. Both were in this sense coproduced. It is the history of these processes of coproduction and negotiation that was addressed at the conference.

The rise of the international conservation expert triggers a wide range of questions. Which roles were deemed suitable for such experts? Were they to be pure scientists, or could they also act as activists or technocrats? Was there competition between disciplines when it came to framing the conservation and environmental crisis? Or was there rather coalition-building? And how did all these experts translate their local research experience into international policy recommendations? Which nature did they set out to protect internationally? How did they select particular species, ecosystems and habitats as objects of international protection? And how did global categories such as the biosphere or the world climate alter the international dynamics?

The conference studied these questions with an eye for specific historical contexts – marked, amongst others, by colonialism, the Cold War or globalization. At the same time we are also interested in long-term continuities. In this way, we hoped to uncover how the history of the environmental expert still resonates in our present-day discussions.

 Full programme

Convenors:

• Raf De Bont
• Ernst Homburg
• Hans Schouwenburg
• Simone Schleper

The conference was organised as part of the Project ‘Nature’s Diplomats’, sponsored by NWO.

For more information please contact: Raf De Bont.