Reiner Grundmann: Difference between revisions

Grundmann started his academic career with an analysis of the legacy of Marx’sMarx's theory for the understanding of environmental problems. This work was a direct product of his PhD research at the EUI in Florence, in the late 1980s under the supervision of [[Steven Lukes]]. Grundmann described ecology as being no longer confined to the realms of biology since the 1970s. The term, as it had been coined in the 1870s by [[Ernst Haeckel]], a German biologist and [[monism|monist]], was about a branch of biology dealing with the interaction of organisms and their surroundings. The current use of the term started to put the interaction of pollution in a political context and was later to describe a political movement as well. The thesis was published by [[Oxford University Press]] in 1991 and a related article by Grundmann himself<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Grundmann | first = Reiner | title = The ecological challenge to Marxism | journal = [[New Left Review]] | volume = I | issue = 194 | pages = 103–120 | date = May–June 1991 | url = http://newleftreview.org/I/187/reiner-grundmann-the-ecological-challenge-to-marxism }} [https://www.academia.edu/161499/The_Ecological_Challenge_to_Marxism Available online.]</ref> and an answer and review of the study by Ted Benton appeared the following year in the [[New Left Review]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal | last = Benton | first = Ted | title = Ecology, socialism and the mastery of nature: a reply to Reiner Grundmann | journal = [[New Left Review]] | volume = I | issue = 194 | pages = 62–64 | date = July–August 1992 | url = http://newleftreview.org/I/194/ted-benton-ecology-socialism-and-the-mastery-of-nature-a-reply-to-reiner-grundmann }}</ref> The basic approach used [[Hans Magnus Enzensberger]]'s ''Zur Kritik der politischen Ökologie''<ref>[[A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy|A Contribution to the Critique of Political Ecology]], the title being a pun on a famous Marx study</ref> published in 1973 in the German [[Kursbuch]]<ref>[[Hans Magnus Enzensberger]] (1973), Zur Kritik der politischen Ökologie', Kursbuch, 33 I</ref> It has been translated in English in Ted Bentons Greening of Marxism in the 1990s.<ref>Enzensberger, Hans Magnus (1973): A Critique of Political Ecology, in: T. Benton (Hg.), The

* ''Online as'': {{Cite book | last = Han | first = Lixin | title = Marxism and ecology: Marx's theory of labour process revisited | journal = Eco-socialism as Politics: Rebuilding the Basis of Our Modern Civilisation (Book) | pages = 15–31 | publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] | doi = 10.1007/978-90-481-3745-9_2 | date = 2010 | isbn = 978-90-481-3744-2 }}</ref> Grundmann avoided depicting the domination as being a precondition of destruction, but allowed for interpretations as mastery or stewardship.<ref name=":2" /> Grundmann' defence of ‘mastery over nature' as a metaphor in ''ecologically informed socialism'' was however not in line with [[Ted Benton]]'s interpretation of the domination term used by Marx. Benton was positive about Grundmann cutting through ''a lot of sloppy thinking in the ‘ecocentric’ camp.'' <ref name=":1" /> He furthermore acknowledged that Grundmanns interpretation of Marx view of our relation to nature is insofar specific compared to e.g. Francis Bacon and Nietzsche, since in Marx’sMarx's view that ‘man should make an impact on the world’. Such mastery, according to Grundmann, would be better interpreted as in mastering a musical instrument.<ref name=":1" /> Grundmann concluded "that the pursuit of productivity and the development of a healthy environment need not be mutually exclusive," arguing that only specific technologies, not technology as such, lead to environmental degradation.<ref>[http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/24716 Entry of the doctorate at Cadmus] Reiner Grundmann: Marxism and Ecology

In their book on [[Expert|expert knowledge]] (English translation in 2011: ''Experts: The knowledge and power of expertise''),<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|url = http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:gdKhaofcJeMJ:https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/CJS/article/download/11599/9022+&cd=3&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de|title = Book Review/Compte rendu: Nico Stehr and Reiner Grundmann. Experts: The Know-ledge and Power of Expertise. Key Ideas. New York: Rout-ledge, 2011, 148 pp. $110.00 hardcover (978-0-415-60803-9)|last = Young|first = Nathan|date = 2011|journal = Canadian Journal of Sociology |volume=36 |issue=3 |access-date = 2015-05-05}}</ref> Grundmann and Stehr develop a specific concept of expertise. Contrary to common definitions that stress the centrality of scientists as experts, expertise is defined as mediating between knowledge production and knowledge application. With the expansion of knowledge intensive professions, ever more persons move into positions of experts—for some issues, some of the time. The rise of the [[knowledge society]] leads to a proliferation of knowledge sources which has not been sufficiently acknowledged by some dominant theories of expertise. A review in the ''[[Canadian Journal of Sociology]]'' pointed out that the book was published as part of Routledge’sRoutledge's “Key Ideas” series and was among the best books in this series, which attempt to both critically review the field and present arguments that reach beyond existing works.<ref name=":0" />

''Experts: The knowledge and power of expertise'' got positive reviews e.g. in socialnet.de.<ref>Thorsten Benkel University of Passau) 10.15.2010 review of: Nico Stehr, Reiner Grundmann: Expertenwissen. Velbrück Wissenschaft (Weilerswist) 2010. In: socialnet Rezensionen, ISSN 2190-9245, http://www.socialnet.de/rezensionen/10190.php, access 09.05.2015</ref> [[Perlentaucher]] mentioned e.g. a positive review of [[:de:Alexander Kissler|Alexander Kissler]] in [[Süddeutsche Zeitung]], stating Stehr and Grundmann would have successfully started ''to plough a new field''.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Reiner Grundmann / Nico Stehr: Expertenwissen. Die Kultur und die Macht von Experten, Beratern und Ratgebern - Perlentaucher|url = https://www.perlentaucher.de/buch/reiner-grundmann-nico-stehr/expertenwissen.html|website = www.perlentaucher.de|access-date = 2015-05-09}}</ref> Climate change is a prominent current case which highlights the question about knowledge and decision making. Grundmann thinks that there exists a mistaken belief that the presence of a [[scientific consensus]] will enable ambitious climate policies. He considers that a much praised study overstates the case for scientific consensus.<ref>Cook et al., [[Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature]] [http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024024/article]</ref> Grundmann is in line with main STS scholars view that science hardly determines policy outcomes.<ref>{{citation |periodical=Social Studies of Science |title=The Third Wave of Science Studies Studies of Expertise and Experience |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=235–296 |issn=0306-3127|date=1 April 2002 |language=de |doi=10.1177/0306312702032002003 |last1=Collins |first1=H.M. |last2=Evans |first2=Robert|s2cid=145135881 }}</ref> Examples such [[acid rain]] ,<ref>Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, 1995. {{ISBN|9780198293330}}</ref> [[smoking ban|smoking regulations]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Grundmann | first1 = Reiner | year = 2013 | title = Debunking sceptical propaganda - Book review | journal = BioSocieties | volume = 8 | issue = 3| pages = 370–374 | doi = 10.1057/biosoc.2013.15 | s2cid = 145249396 }}</ref> [[ozone depleting]] substances, [[genetically modified foods]]<ref>Susan Wright, Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering, 1972-1982 (1994). {{ISBN|9780226910659}}</ref> show how cultural, economic and political issues exercised a strong influence. Conversely, the presence of an international science consensus (through the IPCC) has led to different national policies, none of which is on track to achieving the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that the [[IPCC Summary for Policymakers]] postulate as necessary.<ref>Reiner Grundmann (2005) Ozone and Climate: Scientific consensus and leadership, Science, Technology, and Human Values 31(1): 73-101</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.ipcc14.de/berichte-1/ipcc-arbeitsgruppe-3/145-arbeitsgruppe-drei-veroeffentlicht-ergebnisse|title = IPCC Working group III|last = Schwarz|first = Susanne|date = 13 April 2014}}</ref>

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