Swansea University – Department of Geography
Professor Marcus Doel, Department of Geography
Professor Tavi Murray, Department of Geography; Professor Mark Stallworthy, School of Law
Project and Aims
This fully funded Swansea University studentship (joint Geography/Law) will address the relationship between science and wider society (civil society, policy‑ and law‑makers, and other social actors) in the context of climate change—particularly in the wake of the 2009 'climate‑gate' affair when internal electronic communications of the Climate Change Unit at the University of East Anglia were placed in the public domain by third‑party intervention. The focus will be on how scientific knowledge is mediated by other interests, and the challenges this raises in a 'world risk society' (Beck) in which progress has created countless new global uncertainties. This creates major problems for decision‑makers and lawyers. For instance, transnational and intergenerational impacts on environment and health are problematic for bounded legal notions of jurisdiction and process, as well as for normative structures based on individual rights and predominantly liberal notions of justice. The PhD will contribute to understanding reasonable expectations for climate science, and the ways in which principles and respective roles of risk assessment and management can most effectively be applied in addressing the impacts of climate change.
The research is timely in engaging with a vital aspect of the relations between science, civil society, policy‑ and law‑makers, and other interests in the context of climate change. It will address how scientific practice and outputs are mediated. The outputs from this study would be expected to contribute to informing scientists, decision‑makers, and civil society generally, as to the reasonable expectations for climate science and for ways in which principles and respective roles of risk assessment and risk management can most effectively be applied in addressing the impacts of climate change.
This project would suit a student with a proven academic track record in either climate science with a strong interest in social science and legal issues, or a background in law or social science with an interest in climate science. Due to funding restrictions, only candidates from the UK/EU are eligible to apply. The project supervisors cross the School of Law and Department of Geography at Swansea University.
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