Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in Global Environmental Cooperation, Karen T. Litfin, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), 245pp.
Understanding environmental problems; negotiation, mediation, facilitation and consensus building; politics; applicable to air quality issues; written for the first party participant.
Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in Global Environmental Cooperation is an examination of the role of scientific knowledge in both world politics and the role of power in scientific knowledge. This work also explores the role of such knowledge in the Montreal Protocol and in efforts to mitigate the ozone problem.
Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in Global Environmental Cooperation is required reading for ARSC 5020/7020 as taught by Professors Dale Jamieson, Michael Glantz and Jim Wescoat. This work will be helpful to those who seek an understanding of the role of scientific knowledge in both the world politics of global efforts toward a solution to the ozone problem and in mitigation efforts. Litfin begins with an examination of the need for a discursive approach to the role of science in world politics. By this, Litfin means the need to analyze the substantive content of scientific discourse in international practices i e "... sets of linguistic practices and rhetorical strategies embedded in a network of social relations".
Chapter two is the theoretical basis of the book and proceeds from the question: "If knowledge were to be considered as either a source or a kind of power, how would power need to be conceptualized in order to be broad enough to encompass knowledge?" The author argues for an interactive conception of power andknowledge. Chapter three, to paraphrase the author, sets about to provide a technical and an historical backdrop for the examination of the Montreal Protocol, and to demonstrate that certain modes of framing scientific information had important political implications on the Protocol.
The next chapter is an examination of the interactive nature of power and scientific knowledge in the negotiations antecedent to the Montreal Protocol. The author asserts that scientific knowledge was a necessary condition to the negotiations but not a sufficient one. Litfin focuses upon the "... contending discursive practices during the negotiations..." as the basis of her own analysis. The author acknowledges that the process which led to the Montreal Protocol was not a linear progression, but a "... far more multidimensional ..." one. The penultimate chapter is an extension of Litfin's analysis beyond theMontreal Protocol and examines the two major revisions; one arising out of the London meeting of 1990 and the other, the 1992 Copenhagen agreements. Litfin's overarching assertion is that "... scientific consensus (does) not automatically beget policy consensus; rather, certain discursive strategies (help) to frame the available knowledge in ways that (define) the range of policy options." The final chapter (mistakenly omitted from the table of contents) is an examination of the implications of conceiving of power and knowledge as interactive. The author asserts that ".. the epistemic communities (sic) literature, which represents the most recent attempt to theorize about the place of scientific knowledge in world politics, represents an important contribution to a reflectivist approach." Litfin correctly asserts that the epistemic community approach neglects the ways in which "... scientific information rationalizes and reinforces existing political conflicts".
Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in Global Environmental Cooperation is a carefully structured series of arguments for the conceptualization of scientific knowledge and power as interactive. If one accepts Litfin's well presented arguments, the implications she asserts follow of necessity.
T. A. O'Lonergan
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