Program on Science, Technology and Society at Harvard

Politics of Science and Technology in Climate-Changed Worlds

Sunita Narain

Director General, Center for Science and Environment, New Delhi

December 5, 2017, 12:15pm-2:00pm
Weil Town Hall, Belfer Building Ground Floor, 79 JFK Street

Panel

Sheila Jasanoff

Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Harvard Kennedy School

Janelle Knox-Hayes

Associate Professor of Planning and Economic Geography, MIT

Adil Najam

Dean, Dean and Professor of International Relations and Earth and Environment Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

Noelle Selin

Associate Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Associate Director, Technology and Policy Program, MIT

Moderated by

Gregg Macey

Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School; Visiting Research Fellow, Program on Science, Technology and Society

Lunch is provided if you RSVP.
Please RSVP via our online form before Thursday, November 30^th.

Join us for an interfaculty conversation with Sunita Narain, writer, environmentalist, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2016). She will be joined by Professors Sheila Jasanoff (Science and Technology Studies, HKS), Janelle Knox-Hayes (Planning and Economic Geography, MIT), Adil Najam (International Relations and Earth and Environment, Boston University), and Noelle Selin (Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences and Technology and Policy Program, MIT) for a conversation moderated by Gregg Macey (Harvard STS Fellow). The conversation builds on Narain’s work over 35 years with CSE. We will discuss Narain’s concerns about the politics of science and technology that limit our ability to adopt sustainable technologies that create “institutions of people,” plan and design infrastructure and other systems of “humility,” and make policy decisions that are inclusive of local and indigenous knowledge. We will build on recent events, including the Paris Agreement’s view of “best available science,” the largest tribal uprising in decades against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the ongoing air pollution crisis in South Asia. Brief presentations from documentary and popular film will encourage cross-disciplinary discussion among speakers and the audience. The event will culminate in a draft agenda for future research and collaboration.

A summary of the conversation can be found here.