Science and Democracy Network
24th Annual Meeting
August 28-30, 2025
Harvard Kennedy School
About SDN
The SDN is organized around the following major themes:
Institutions and Epistemic Authority: Role of governmental and non-governmental institutions in producing, using, disseminating or contesting authoritative knowledge (institutions with claims to epistemic authority include universities, NGOs, corporations, social media platforms, international governmental organizations, scientific institutions, the state and its agencies).
Democracy and Participation: Forms and modes of mobilization and contestation around scientific or technological issues, including digital identities and governance, consumer and patient activism, indigenous knowledge, and “liminal citizens” (e.g., endangered species, animals, embryos, stem cells, and data subjects).
Politics of Expertise: Intersection between political and expert or professional discourses; role of social media and visual technologies in authorizing scientific claims; cultural and political implications of digitization (e.g., spread of AI, biometric and surveillance technologies, digital doubles, etc.)
The conference aims to highlight work that effectively integrates issues of political and epistemic authority, is comparative in nature or addresses the governance of science and technology. It will also include roundtables on current issues of relevance to SDN members, for example, reflecting on recent political developments challenging expert knowledge, transnational mobility, and institutions of higher education.
This meeting was organized with the generous support of:
