Activists pursue technical expertise to win credibility in public debate
Evidence
Indeed, some activists decided that the only way they could effectively participate in public debate was by becoming technical experts themselves. … Chris actually went back to school to get a BA, not in political science or sociology or journalism, but in environmental science, convinced that the most important knowledge she lacked was not political, but technical. Some activists were indeed homegrown experts, having devoted years of study to local environmental problems and the convoluted bureaucracies that oversee them; and, of course, most activists spent time poring over the state’s scientific documents, doing independent library research, and trying to master the scientific reasoning behind the company’s technical assurances. This is part of the route to good citizenship, but as CESE itself showed, not the whole route. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1421
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Possessing inside technical knowledge lets ordinary citizens feel superior to activists — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 989; Political leaders need technical literacy to arbitrate among experts; Activists and artists now build counter-surveillance tools to achieve invisibility — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1561 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Activist technology and institutional structure are mutually constitutive, not separable
#expands(0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 104 - Activists and artists now build counter-surveillance tools to achieve invisibility
#complicates(0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1561 - Political leaders need technical literacy to arbitrate among experts
#expands(0.72)