Expert assessment as a framing exercise. The controversy over green macroalgal blooms' proliferation in France
Bourblanc M.. 2019. Science and Public Policy, 46 (2) : p. 264-274.
This article contributes to unraveling the 'paradox of scientific authority', that is, the fact that despite the loss of authority of scientific expertise, policymakers still resort to expert advice. Re-examining the role ascribed to expert assessment in the policy-making process in controversial contexts in particular, the article succeeds in demonstrating that one of the crucial roles of expert evaluation is to establish a more compelling definition of the problem to be dealt with by policymakers. Taking the scientific controversy surrounding the proliferation of green algal bloom on Brittany beaches (France) as a case in point, I show that expert assessment conceived as a framing exercise is, however, a two-way process: it is as much about framing for the sake of settling an expert dispute with sound scientific categories than about solving public problems in a sufficiently consensual way, taking into account the distribution of power more generally in society.
Mots-clés : pollution par l'agriculture; chlorophyceae; plage; expert indépendant; aide à la décision; pollution de l'eau; france; bretagne
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Agents Cirad, auteurs de cette publication :
- Bourblanc Magalie — Es / UMR G-EAU