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Paper short abstract

Developing an STS theorising of public inquiries, I examine the structure and practices of inquiries - exploring issues of epistemic injustice, public participation, and accountability - and track continuities and discontinuities with pasts and presents, and the futures they set in train.

Paper long abstract

Jasonoff (2005:218) famously stated that public inquiries are ‘Britain’s favoured mechanism for ascertaining the facts after any major breakdown or controversy’. Public inquiries are thus emblematic of the UK’s civic epistemology. However, in the 20 years since this foundational work, there has been little theorising of public inquiries from an STS perspective, despite ever increasing public demand for them. In this presentation, I develop an STS theorising of public inquiries, focusing on the space between the claim, by proponents, that inquiries provide catharsis for people harmed by public institutions meant to protect and care for them, and the claim, by critics, that they are a political tool for managing crisis that both distances governments from the scandal while showing decisive action that something is being done. I explore the repair work of inquiries where public institutions have caused harms, and societal breakdowns of trust have occurred. As a critical juncture at which scientific and public knowledges are enfolded to form recommendations for future practice, I examine the structure and practices of inquiries, and explore issues of epistemic injustice, public participation, and accountability. I question the ‘closure’ inquiries are proposed to enact and track the continuities and discontinuities with pasts and presents, and the futures they set in train.