CASCAIUAES2017 Panel: BY WHOSE AUTHORITY: INVESTIGATING ALTERNATIVE MODES OF POWER AND THE LEGITIMIZATION OF EXPERTISE

BY WHOSE AUTHORITY: INVESTIGATING ALTERNATIVE MODES OF POWER AND THE
LEGITIMIZATION OF EXPERTISE
 
/Convenors:/    
 
Arne S. Steinforth, York University (asteinfo@yorku.ca)
Sandra Widmer, York University (swidmer@yorku.ca)
 
/Short Abstract/:
 
How might anthropologists contextualise claims about entering a
"post-factual" world? This panel explores modes by which authority
(economic, medical, technical, political, etc.) is negotiated in local
settings vis-a-vis the spread of global institutions and universalizing
forms of knowledge.
 
/Long Abstract/:
 
How might anthropologists contextualise claims that we are now entering a
"post-factual" world? This panel explores the variety of ways in which
authority is contested, particularly with the expansion of global
institutions and the rapid spread of universalizing forms of knowledge.
Failing to generate a homogenous modernity that invariably overrules local
concepts by the power of its principles, these globalized developments urge
questions concerning which institution, what kind of knowledge, or whose
expertise is accepted as authoritative - questions indicating complex
mechanisms of negotiation that highlight the specificities and pluralities
in 'modern' society. The inherent contradictions between what is perceived
as local vs. global forms of knowledge, between different discourses vying
for social acceptance, constitutes an open-ended processes that question
traditions, create spaces, transform hierarchies, and prioritize values.
 
This panel addresses the different strategies by which conflicting
perspectives on authority are negotiated in local settings. It fosters
critical debate on different modes to maintain (and challenge) social
structures or institutions that allocate decision-making privileges to
groups of people based on specific criteria (e.g. claims of scientific
expertise, democratic legitimacy, moral normativity, economic viability,
technical consistency, etc.). The panel invites contributors highlighting
the processes of negotiation between conflicting claims of authority.
Possible contributions may investigate discourses on science and religion
in local healing practices, the impact of biopolitics or material resources
on local policy, competitions between "traditional" versus "bureaucratic"
forms of authority in government, grassroots environmentalism challenging
technical knowledge on land use, or discussions concerning outsider/insider
expertise of political candidates in U.S. political landscapes, among many
others.

More information:

http://nomadit.co.uk/cascaiuaes2017/suite/panels.php5?PanelID=5433