Scientists as citizens and knowers in the detection of deforestation in the Amazon

Author(s)

Monteiro, Marko ; Rajao, Raoni

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE; v. 47, n. 4, p. 466-484, AUG 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 7

Abstract

This paper examines how scientists deal with tensions emerging from their role as providers of objective knowledge and as citizens concerned with how their research influences policy and politics in Brazil. This is accomplished through an ethnographic account of scientists using remote sensing technology, of their knowledge-making activities and of the broader socio-political controversies that permeate the detection of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Strategies for mitigating uncertainty are central aspects of the knowledge practices analyzed, bringing controversies external' to the laboratory into' the lab, making these boundaries conceptually problematic. In particular, the anticipation of alternative interpretations of rainforest cover is a crucial way that scientists bring the world into the lab, helping to shed light on how scientists, usually seen and analyzed as isolated, are in fact often in constant dialogue with the broader political controversies related to their work. These insights help question the idea that the monitoring of deforestation through remote sensing is a form of secluded research, drawing a more complex picture of the dual role of scientists as knowledge producers and concerned citizens. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/09302-1 - Mapping digital images: an ethnographic study of remote sensing practices
• Grantee: Marko Synésio Alves Monteiro
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/11592-6 - Science, technology and territory: an ethnography of the science-policy interface in Brazilian remote sensing
• Grantee: Marko Synésio Alves Monteiro
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants