How do epistemic communities function in lesser developed countries (LDCs)? The study of epistemic communities was developed in the constructivist school of International Relations theory to explain how non-state actors can influence governmental policy creation. Epistemic communities are social networks of scientists that share claims to validity, rationales for action and hold a consensus on causal arguments. Consensus is the causal mechanism with which epistemic communities influence policy making. In cognitively complex circumstances, consensus de-legitimates competing claims, reduces uncertainty, and clarifies appropriate policy responses. Epistemic communities have been credited with the initiation and successful implementation of international environmental treaties in several highly industrialized countries (HICs), including the Economic Commission for Europe's convention on Long Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution and the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer. However, it is not clear that environmental arguments that are persuasive to policy makers in HICs will resonate in the socioeconomic context of LDCs. LDCs occupy a subordinate position in the production of world capital and environmental policy-making is comparatively vulnerable to developmental pressures. The study of cognitive issue-framing posits that arguments that are framed to 'fit' with an existing sociopolitical structure are more likely to be selected by policy makers and endure over time. In LDCs then, environmental knowledge claims must be strategically framed in economically rational terms in order to be persuasive. 'Knowledge brokers' who translate scientific language to policy makers will play an important role in choosing appropriate frames.
This project will expand on previous work conducted in Jamaica by undertaking a comparative analysis of environmental management policies implemented in Mexico and Egypt to comply with their obligations as signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It will establish the types of frames used, how these frames are altered through interactions with policy makers, and whether they are effective in altering state behavior. This information will be gathered by in-depth interviews of epistemic community members, knowledge brokers and policy makers, and by analyses of archival material. Frame effectiveness will be measured by state regulation of human activity pre- and post-epistemic community involvement. By studying framing, this project adds analytical depth to the epistemic community approach by clarifying the importance of the social context of knowledge claims. Further, by indicating which frames are likely to be persuasive, this project will suggest strategies that are likely to be effective to environmental advocates in the developing world. The results of this project will be presented at regional and national academic conferences, and the dissertation is intended for publication.
