Indeterminacy in-decisions – science, policy and politics in the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) crisis

Hinchliffe, Steve (2001). Indeterminacy in-decisions – science, policy and politics in the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) crisis. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 26(2) pp. 182–204.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-5661.00014

Abstract

Increasingly, non-human geographies have unfastened nature from its foundational moorings. In a parallel development, the benefits of adhering to precautionary and participatory forms of decision-making have become common place in environmental geography and in government policy. And yet, on closer inspection, there is a danger in these latter approaches that old certainties regarding non-human natures remain unquestioned. The result can be a tendency to gravitate towards bureaucratic and technical solutions to, or closures on, what are, first and foremost, political and open-ended problems. This paper uses an empirical engagement with BSE-related scientific and policy practices, along with insights from non-human geographies, science studies and poststructuralism to suggest that such certainties and resolutions are misplaced.

Viewing alternatives

Look up in Google Scholar

Download history

Metrics

Public Attention

Altmetrics from Altmetric

Number of Citations

Citations from Dimensions

Item Actions

Export

About

  • Item ORO ID
  • 6618
  • Item Type
  • Journal Item
  • ISSN
  • 0020-2754
  • Keywords
  • uncertainty; BSE; environmental geography; decision-making; precautionary principle; actor network theory; Environmental Geography Decision-making Precautionary Principle Actor Network Theory
  • Academic Unit or School
  • Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)
  • Research Group
  • OpenSpace Research Centre (OSRC)
  • Depositing User
  • Stephen Hinchliffe
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

Recommendations