ABSTRACT

Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholarship has often been suspicious of the role of scientific knowledge and scientists in environmental governance, notably through paying critical attention to the workings of calculative rationalities and techniques. However, recent reforms within certain extractivist regions and nations such as the United States of America and Australia suggest that calculative management and the environmental data on which it is based is no longer a given. Arguably, the politics of rendering the ecologies around us legible through measures and values has changed. This is apparent by examining the case of Gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus), an invasive and fire-promoting ‘weed’ which is threatening the lives and futures of humans and nonhumans alike in Australia’s Northern Territory. After becoming a target of environmental regulation in 2008, the plant has continued to thrive and expand its reach. Interviews and fieldwork with a range of practitioners engaged in bushfire and weed management show that there are many challenges to interceding in forms of environmental harm when we are governed by a politics of environmental illegibility. Pragmatic empirical engagements by STS scholars and others are necessary if these intercessions are to succeed.

摘要

科学和技术研究（STS）奖学金通常对科学知识和科学家在环境治理中的作用持怀疑态度，特别是通过高度重视计算合理性和技术的工作。但是，某些提取主义地区和国家（例如美国和澳大利亚）最近进行的改革表明，不再提供计算管理和它所基于的环境数据。可以说，通过措施和价值使我们周围的生态变得清晰的政治已经改变。通过检查甘巴草（Andropogon gayanus）的情况可以明显看出这一点。），这是一种具入侵性和助火作用的“杂草”，它正在威胁澳大利亚北部地区的人类和非人类的生命和未来。在2008年成为环境法规的目标之后，该工厂继续蓬勃发展并扩大了覆盖范围。对从事丛林大火和杂草管理的许多从业人员的访谈和实地调查表明，当我们受环境不明朗的政治支配时，以环境损害的形式进行干预存在许多挑战。如果要成功进行这些调解，则必须由STS学者和其他人进行务实的经验参与。