[Sci-tech-public] STS Circle, November 22nd - Judith Layzer - (please RSVP)

[Harvard STS]

*STS Circle at Harvard*
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*Judith Layzer
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*Urban Studies and Planning, MIT*
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*Science and Storytelling in Environmental Politics*

Monday, November 22nd
12:15-2:00 p.m.
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 100, Room 106

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Lunch is provided if you RSVP.
Please RSVP to sts at hks.harvard.edu by Thursday, November 18th.

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*Abstract:* In this talk, I argue that recent efforts by antiregulatory
activists to discredit climate-change scientists are nothing new. Rather,
they are part of an evolving strategy aimed at undermining environmentally
risk-averse interpretations of scientific research, which environmentalists
have used to justify demands for protective regulations. I explain how both
sides in the contemporary environmental policy debates use science as a
source of the stories they tell in hopes of influencing politics. I trace
the history of science-as-storytelling through a few prominent cases, and
examine the implications for current policy debates.

*Biography*: Judy Layzer is a political scientist whose research and
teaching focus on the roles of science, values, and storytelling in
environmental politics, as well as on the effectiveness of different
approaches to environmental planning and management.  A current research
project investigates how conservative activists have developed a coherent
storyline aimed at undermining environmentalism and how conservative ideas
have influenced U.S. environmental politics.  A second project examines the
nature and results of urban sustainability planning and asks:  do urban
sustainability initiatives significantly reduce cities' ecological
footprint?  Which aspects of "green cities" are most effective at reducing
cities' environmental impacts?   With Professor JoAnn Carmin, Layzer
co-directs the Environmental Policy and Planning group's Society, Business
and the Environment Project.  She also directs the Urban Sustainability
Project @ MIT.

A complete list of STS Circle at Harvard events can be found on our website:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/sts/events/sts_circle/
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