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Paper short abstract

Based on in-depth interviews with members of two academic climate activist movements in Sweden, this paper explores how competing notions of expertise shape the credibility and legitimacy of scientists’ political engagement amid contested authority of expert knowledge.

Paper long abstract

How do scientists negotiate the credibility and legitimacy of expertise when engaging in political activism in a context where the authority of expert knowledge is increasingly contested? Drawing on in-depth interviews with scholars involved in the Swedish climate activist movements Researchers Desk and Scientist Rebellion, this paper examines how academic climate activists mobilize and reinterpret expertise when legitimizing political action. Adopting a frame analytic approach, we analyze how activists make sense of the relationship between scientific knowledge, ethical responsibility, and public trust.

Across both movements, climate change is framed as an unprecedented societal crisis and scientists are understood to carry a particular ethical responsibility to act. However, activists articulate this responsibility through two contrasting notions of expertise. While some locate their authority in field-specific scientific expertise, others ground it in a broader scientific vocation and the civic responsibilities associated with belonging to the scientific community. These differing understandings produce distinct boundaries around which epistemic claims are considered legitimate and shape competing visions of how scientists should intervene in public debate.

By examining how academic climate activists negotiate the credibility of expertise and the legitimacy of political engagement, the paper contributes to STS discussions on shifting relations between knowledge, authority, and democracy. It highlights how struggles over expertise within scientific communities themselves reflect broader transformations in public trust in expert knowledge and the role of science in contemporary societies.