Sammendrag
Various conceptions and visions of environmental science are presented. The distinction between multi- and interdisciplinarity is defined in terms of the openness of methodological discourses, reserving the term interdisciplinary for collaboration in which methodological discussion is encouraged across disciplinary borders. For example, a sociologist may be able to demonstrate the presence of social and political values in a biological research project, thus contributing to the reflexivity of that research. A more radical vision is that of Funtowicz and Ravetz post-normal science, a central idea of which is that value-laden methodological choices are a matter of public interest and accordingly should not be made without broader (lay) participation. Results from contemporary sociology of science motivate a closer analysis of the ontological status of environmental problems: does anthropogenic climate change exist, and in what sense? Actor-network-theory is identified as a promising analytical perspective, since it is designed to deal with objects of uncertain existence and interactions across the border between nature and culture. In particular, Bruno Latours vision of actor-network-research as a political ecology is presented with emphasis on its non-modern, normative character. Does the environmental scientist or research group have to choose between the plethora of perspectives? Can promising research emerge out of a light-hearted tolerance of inconsistent perspectives?
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