Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to give an account of an ongoing research about the local construction of knowledge about a phytopathology known as Olive quick Decline Syndrome affecting Olive trees in Aplulia (It).The contribution will give an account of the so-called"360approach"pursued by local social movements

Paper long abstract:

Beginning in 2013, Apulia region (It) experienced the first signs of Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS). Since then,a scientific dispute has taken place involving regional laboratories which have initially expressed divergent positions regarding the causal role of the bacterium Xylella Fastidiosa,a pathogen that requires urgent eradication and containment measures in the EPPO region.While the majority of the scientific community strongly supports the causal relation between X.F.and OQDS,social/environmental movements reject this correlation,identifying alternative causes or contributory causes (i.e. fungi, soil pollution, the use of agro-chemical products, etc.).The EU-manded requirement to cut down thousands of centuries-old and culturally important trees,as the only possible XF containment strategy has encountered strong opposition among environmental/social movements advocating for an expansion of research efforts (the "360° approach")in order to find less drastic solutions,with the ultimate goal of curing olive trees instead of eradication.The dynamic is looked as an ongoing schismogenesis of conflicting knowledges unfolding on two levels.On the epistemological level,it appears as a clash between different positions regarding pathologization and medicalization of OQDS;whereas, on the political one,it emerges as a delegitimation of the role of experts working on X.F.as well as criticism towards the politics of scientific research and institutions.While trying to find a theoretical point of convergence between Social Movements Studies and Studies of Expertise and Experience,the main aims of our contribution is framing the so-called "360approach"as a case of "undone science"