University
College and London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom, June 23rd-25th
Cecilia
Hidalgo participated in the Science and Democracy Network (SDN) Annual Meeting
2016. The SDN was established in 2002 to enhance the quality and significance
of scholarship in science and technology studies (STS) by training young
professionals and by forging links between STS and related fields of study and
practice. The annual meeting primary goal is to strengthen and deepen STS
scholarship on science and democracy, and to provide training opportunities for
young STS scholars to enable them to participate more effectively in decision
processes and public affairs.
The 15th
Annual SDN Meeting was held at University College London and the London School
of Economics and Political Science.
Sheila
Jasanoff (Harvard), Jack Stilgoe (UCL) and Tim Forsyth (LSE) introduced the
sessions devoted to issues such as climate prediction and modeling,
socio-technical imaginaries of the State, global regimes of toxicity, public
engagement with planning, the politics of expert advice.
A special
panel discussion on the Regulation of Public Numbers gathered representatives
of operational public institutions, academy and NGOs who entertained a vivid
discussion on the epistemic and political challenges involved in the
production, interpretation and regulation of official statistics. Were participants of the panel Ed Humpherson
(UK Statistics Authority), Mike Hughes (Consultant on Official Statistics),
Diane Coyle (University of Manchester), Saamah Abdallah (New Economics
Foundation), Mary Morgan (London School of Economics), Sheila Jasanoff (Harvard
Kennedy School) and Tiago Mata (UCL)
There was
also a space to reflect on science, expertise and politics in the wake of the
Brexit vote. Jan-Peter Voss (TU Berlin), Rob Hagendijk (Amsterdam), David
Winickoff (UC Berkeley/OECD) and Brian Wynne (Lancaster) leaded the debate.
