The Limits of Anticipatory Knowledge: Some Lessons from COVID-19 

In areas where we must plan for an uncertain future—from climate adaptation to cybersecurity to pandemic preparedness—officials and experts draw on tools of anticipatory knowledge, such as models, scenarios, and indicators.  During the coronavirus pandemic, many of these tools were put to the test: for instance, in the organization of government response, in the use of stockpiled medical supplies, and in the development and distribution of novel vaccines. Drawing on such examples, this talk examines the fraught relationship between expert knowledge and governance during the pandemic. And it asks, in turn, what this experience may imply for STS approaches to the analysis of technocratic authority.  

Dr. Andrew Lakoff is a professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Southern California, where he is also founding director of the Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life.  His work focuses on how experts in areas such as security, health, and the environment envision and plan for uncertain but potentially catastrophic events. His most recent books are The Government of Emergency: Vital Systems, Expertise, and the Politics of Emergency (with Stephen Collier), and Planning for the Wrong Pandemic: COVID-19 and the Limits of Expert Knowledge.

This event will only be held in-person.