Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Production, Circulation, and Utilization of Scientific Knowledge

Cuny Graduate School University Center, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

It is widely observed on the Earth today that glaciers are shrinking, sea levels are rising, and extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity. We also know that the future trajectory of the global warming patterns underlying these and other developments will be affected by the choices humans make and, especially, the energy policies their countries pursue. Therefore, researchers are seeking to understand where these policies come from and how governments and citizens determine their energy futures. Social science researchers in particular ask how competing environmental and geopolitical policies arise. Anthropology is particularly well placed to provide insights into such questions because the field focuses on the everyday activities, understandings, and processes that bring ordinary people to make these momentous decisions. In other words, anthropology brings large-scale geopolitical issues into an everyday focus. City University of New York anthropology graduate student Zeynep Oguz, with the guidance of Dr. Gary Wilder, will investigate the case of oil and natural gas exploration processes in Turkey.The researcher has chosen Turkey because there the government-run Mineral Exploration and Research Institute (MTA) has partnered with public and private oil companies to search for hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. This conjunction of stakeholders enables the researcher to observe the involvement of multiple actors in a resource exploration setting, including experts, statespeople, private businesses, and environmental activists. Further, in contrast to extraction, the early stage of hydrocarbon exploration have been understudied by social scientists even though it is critical to the making of key decisions. The researcher will focus on the production, circulation, and appropriation of techno-scientific knowledge about potential hydrocarbon resources. He will employ a range of social science research methods including participant observation in gas and oil exploration. He also will interview geologists and engineers involved in the process to capture their everyday practices and worldviews about resources, the environment, and the future. He will trace the circulation of data sets, field reports, maps, and other findings derived through hydrocarbon exploration, and conduct further interviews to assess how government officials and members of civil society utilize scientific information to make or contest energy policy. Findings from this research will provide insight into the factors that affect, perpetuate, or obstruct decision-making processes in energy policy and climate change mitigation. It will also contribute to new and more general social scientific understanding of how knowledge is made, circulated, and utilized.