Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India
STS scholars studying anti-nuclear activism in the context of nations in the Global North have observed the critical role of science to mediate relations of domination and resistance. Through a historical examination of anti-nuclear activism in India, this article investigates the instrumentalizatio...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151122 |
| _version_ | 1811685623390535680 |
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| author | Haines, Monamie Bhadra |
| author2 | School of Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Social Sciences Haines, Monamie Bhadra |
| author_sort | Haines, Monamie Bhadra |
| collection | NTU |
| description | STS scholars studying anti-nuclear activism in the context of nations in the Global North have observed the critical role of science to mediate relations of domination and resistance. Through a historical examination of anti-nuclear activism in India, this article investigates the instrumentalization of science as a liberal democratic rationality. In doing so, the article shows how elite Indian activists – many of whom are scientists, engineers, journalists and academic professionals – will never be seen as scientifically knowledgeable in nuclear matters, because of their non-state educational pedigrees. If activists cannot hold the state accountable through science, they have attempted to anticipate what other kinds of arguments and modes of contention may gain traction. As such, they have deployed more ‘guerilla’ tactics grounded in bureaucratic rationalities in the hopes of installing themselves as alternate sources of expertise in India’s nuclear landscape. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:47:28Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/151122 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T04:47:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1511222021-06-24T10:11:10Z Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India Haines, Monamie Bhadra School of Social Sciences Social sciences::Sociology Anti-nuclear Civic Epistemologies STS scholars studying anti-nuclear activism in the context of nations in the Global North have observed the critical role of science to mediate relations of domination and resistance. Through a historical examination of anti-nuclear activism in India, this article investigates the instrumentalization of science as a liberal democratic rationality. In doing so, the article shows how elite Indian activists – many of whom are scientists, engineers, journalists and academic professionals – will never be seen as scientifically knowledgeable in nuclear matters, because of their non-state educational pedigrees. If activists cannot hold the state accountable through science, they have attempted to anticipate what other kinds of arguments and modes of contention may gain traction. As such, they have deployed more ‘guerilla’ tactics grounded in bureaucratic rationalities in the hopes of installing themselves as alternate sources of expertise in India’s nuclear landscape. The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers as well as Sergio Sismondo for their valuable and thoughtful comments and editing. She would also like to thank Clark Miller, Rahul Mukherjee and Debjani Chakravarty for reading versions of this article over the past three years. Funding: American Society for Indian Studies, the American Council of Learned Societies and Arizona State University. 2021-06-24T10:11:10Z 2021-06-24T10:11:10Z 2019 Journal Article Haines, M. B. (2019). Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India. Social Studies of Science, 49(1), 29-51. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312719827114 0306-3127 0000-0002-7724-4893 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151122 10.1177/0306312719827114 30803352 2-s2.0-85061671724 1 49 29 51 en Social Studies of Science © 2019 The Author(s). All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Sociology Anti-nuclear Civic Epistemologies Haines, Monamie Bhadra Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India |
| title | Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India |
| title_full | Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India |
| title_fullStr | Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India |
| title_short | Contested credibility economies of nuclear power in India |
| title_sort | contested credibility economies of nuclear power in india |
| topic | Social sciences::Sociology Anti-nuclear Civic Epistemologies |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151122 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hainesmonamiebhadra contestedcredibilityeconomiesofnuclearpowerinindia |