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Reiner Grundmann, (born 29 September 1955) near Freudenstadt is Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Nottingham and Director of the. He is a German sociologist and political scientist who resides in the UK since 1997. Previous appointments include Aston University, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, and the University of Bielefeld.

Life and academic career

Grundmann attended Schelztor Gymnasium in Esslingen where he took his A-levels. He studied Sociology in Berlin and received his doctorate 1989 at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence (Italy). His habilitation about environmental policy on the ozone layer challenge took place at the University of Bielefeld 1998. Grundmann held various post-doctoral positions, at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, at the Graduate college Risk and private law) at the University of Bremen, and at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne. In 1997 he took up a position at Aston University and is since 2012 at the University of Nottingham. Grundmann is a keen cyclist and competed till recently in road races and is still participating in individual time trials. He also has an interest in art and visual representations.

Academic interests

Grundmann has contributed to four areas of research: social theory, sustainability topics, the relation between knowledge and decision making, and media analysis. In most of his work he uses a comparative methodology. He received research grants on topics such as urban habitat sustainability (most recently from the Leverhulme Trust), climate change reporting in the media, the ozone controversy in science and society, and the future of the automobile.

He has been influenced by Niklas Luhmann's system theory and Bruno Latour's Actor–network theory. He remains ambivalent about both. His position has been discussed on the theoretical level in a controversy with Klaus Peter Japp about Luhmann's system theory and Ulrich Becks risk sociology. However, in a recent contribution he has become more appreciative of Luhmann's analysis of risk society.

Grundmann's interest in the role of expertise in modern society is influenced by frameworks such as Post-normal science and Roger Pielke Jr.'s Honest broker. While he accepts the role of science as agenda setter in the political process, he doubts a direct influence of "certain knowledge" or "settled science" in political decision making.

Social theory

Grundmann started his academic career with an analysis of the legacy of Marx’s theory for the understanding of environmental problems. This work was a direct product of his PhD research which he performed at the EUI in Florence, in the late 1980s under the supervision of Steven Lukes. The thesis was published by Oxford University Press in 1991 and a related article appeared in the same year in the New Left Review. Whilst the book received some praise and critical attention at the time, it was published at a difficult historical juncture—after the fall of communism there was little appetite for theoretical frameworks inspired by Marx. In subsequent years this has changed, and the forthcoming Chinese translation indicates a growing interest in the topic. In his book he concluded "that the pursuit of productivity and the development of a healthy environment need not be mutually exclusive."

In the years that followed, Grundmann moved away from social theory and started engaging with issues about environmental sustainability through the lens of science and technology studies. This move was inspired by the insight of Karl Marx that technology reveals the active transformation of nature, performed by humans and their social forms of organization.

A partial return to social theory was prompted by the co-operation with Nico Stehr with whom Grundmann worked together since the late 1990s. Their common work on Werner Sombart led to a re-evaluation of the legacy of this pioneering German sociologist, examining in particular his low salience in the postwar period.

Sustainability and large technical systems

The study of science and technology related issues led him to research large technical systems, which he did during his time at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) in the early 1990s. His special interest was focused on the future of automobility. In the mid 1990s he spent three years at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne where he studied the efforts to protect the ozone layer. This research was based on interviews with scientists, policy makers, and experts, in the USA and Germany. It was published in German in 1999 and in 2001 in English. This work is unique in its challenge to widespread historical accounts which tend to explain the success of ozone policies either as a result of scientific consensus, or as an outcome of corporate power. In contrast, he shows the relevance of transnational policy networks. The successful Montreal Protocol is often taken as an exemplar case which serves as the model for an (so far elusive) climate treaty. Grundmann claims that several problematic lessons have been drawn from this case.

Relation between knowledge and decision making

Together with Stehr, Grundmann published various pieces on the role of knowledge and expertise in modern societies. Two monographs in 2012 are testament to these efforts. In The Power of Scientific Knowledge three case studies are presented, Keynesianism, Race Science & Eugenics, and Climate change. Based on the conceptual distinction between knowledge for practice and practical knowledge the argument is made that scientists who were advancing practical knowledge were able to make a difference in policy. There is a stunning mismatch between Keynes's one man show and the huge enterprise of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and an interesting parallel between the belief in science based policies in eugenics and climate change.

In their book on Expert Knowledge, Grundmann and Stehr develop a specific concept of expertise. Contrary to common definitions that stress the centrality of scientists as experts, expertise is defined as mediating between knowledge production and knowledge application. With the expansion of knowledge intensive professions, ever more persons move into positions of experts, for some issues, some of the time. The rise of the knowledge society leads to a proliferation of knowledge sources which has not been sufficiently acknowledged by some dominant theories of expertise.

Climate change is perhaps the most prominent current case which highlights the question about knowledge and decision making. Grundmann thinks that there exists a mistaken belief—that the presence of a science consensus will enable ambitious climate policies. A much praised study overstates the case for scientific consensus. In contrast, Grundmann argues that many examples from public policy show that science hardly determines policy outcomes. Examples such as acid rain, smoking regulations, ozone depleting substances, genetically modified foods show how cultural, economic and political issues exercised a strong influence. Conversely, the presence of an international science consensus (through the IPCC) has led to different national policies, non of which is on track to achieving the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that the IPCC Summary for Policymakers postulate as necessary.

Media analysis

Over the past years Grundmann has become increasingly interested in the media discourse on climate change, taking up an earlier interest in the comparative analysis of media discourses. Together with computational linguists and sociologists he has started comparative analysis of climate change reporting in various countries.

Peer review and climate change

Grundmann is very active in the peer review process, for many academic journals, publishing houses, and research funding organisations across various countries. His own experiences with peer review of a paper about the climategate issue are being described in an interview with Hans von Storch. His paper Climategate and The Scientific Ethos faced severe resistance from social science journals before it was published in Science, Technology, & Human Values. Grundmann took the affair as reason to state a politicization of climate science which makes Science, technology and society (STS) scholars feel uncomfortable with the topic of climate change. Grundmann identifies a problematic approach of climate scientists which believe to have a prerogative to make political suggestions in the field "which society at large should take up because scientists always know best" combined with a basic lack of actual feasible solution proposals. He sees climate change as a long term issue requiring more public involvement and debate, not less and asks social scientists to study the interaction between climate and society.

Other activities

He is a coauthor of The Hartwell Paper and together with Hans von Storch blogger at Klimazwiebel. He has provided guest entries on other blogs, e.g. Roger A. Pielke, Jr. Some knowledge topics were published in newspapers and popular science journals.

He is member of different Social Science Associations and was President (2009–10) of the British Science Association, Sociology and Social Policy Section.

In May 2014 the STS group at Nottingham held the international conference Circling the Square, which sparked a lot of interest.

Publications and books

• (2012) The Power of Scientific Knowledge. From Research to Public Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107022-72-0 (with Nico Stehr).
• (2011) Die Macht der Erkenntnis. Berlin: Suhrkamp. ISBN 978-3-518-29590-8 (with Nico Stehr).
• (2010) Expertenwissen: Die Kultur und die Macht von Experten, Beratern und Ratgebern. Frankfurt am Main: Velbrueck. ISBN 978-3-938808-82-5 (with Nico Stehr). In English: Experts: The knowledge and power of expertise. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-60803-9 (with Nico Stehr). A russian translation is in preparation.
• (2008) Society: Critical Concepts (4 vols.) London: Routledge. ISBN 0415426561 (edited with Nico Stehr).
• (2005) Knowledge: Critical Concepts (5 vols). London: Routledge. ISBN 0415317363 (edited with Nico Stehr).
• (2001) Transnational Environmental Policy: Reconstructing Ozone. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415224233
• (2001) Werner Sombart. Economic Life in the Modern Age, edited and introduced by Nico Stehr and Reiner Grundmann, New Brunswick, N.J.; Oxford: Transaction Books. ISBN 0765800306.
• (1999) Transnationale Umweltpolitik zum Schutz der Ozonschicht. USA und Deutschland im Vergleich. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus. ISBN 3-593-36222-8
• (1991) Marxism and Ecology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198273142, which has been translated into Korean (Dongnyok, Seoul 1995), Chinese translation is forthcoming

Examples of peer reviewed publications

• (2012) ‘Climategate’ and the Scientific Ethos, Science, Technology & Human Values, DOI: 10.1177/0162243911432318.
• (2012) How does knowledge relate to political action? Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 25(1): 29-44 (with Nico Stehr).
• (2011) Regional Climate Services illustrated with experiences from Northern Europe. Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik & Umweltrecht 1/2011, 1-15 (with von Storch, H., I. Meinke, N. Stehr, B. Ratter, W. Krauss, R.A. Pielke jr., M. Reckermann and R. Weisse).
• (2011) The Two “Limits” Debates: “Limits to Growth” and Climate Change, Futures 43:16–26 (with Josh Eastin and Aseem Prakash).
• (2010) Climate Change: What role for Sociology? A Response to Constance Lever-Tracy, Current Sociology 58(6): 897–910 (with Nico Stehr).
• (2010) The Discourse of Climate Change: a corpus-based approach, Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines 4 (2): 113 – 133 (with Ramesh Krishnamurthy).
• (2009) The Role of Expertise in Governance Processes, Forest Policy and Economics 11: 398–403.
• (2007) Climate Change and Knowledge Politics, Environmental Politics 16 (3): 416 – 434.
• (2005) Ozone and Climate: Scientific consensus and leadership, Science, Technology, and Human Values 31(1): 73-101.
• (1998a) ‘Policy Networks and Global Ecological Problems: The Case of the Ozone Layer’ Law and State 58: 7-35.
• (1998b) ‘Technik als Problem für die Systemtheorie’ . Swiss Journal of Sociology 24 (2): 327-346.
• (1998c) ‘The Strange Success of the Montreal Protocol: Why reductionist accounts fail’, International Environmental Affairs 10 (3): 197-220.
• (1997a) ‘Klima und Gesellschaft, Soziologische Klassiker und Außenseiter’ Soziale Welt 47 (1), 85-100.
• (1997b) ‘Politiknetzwerke und globale ökologische Probleme: Der Fall der Ozonschicht’, Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 38 (2): 247-273.
• (1994) ‘Incanto, tecnica e rischio nel mondo moderno. Karl Marx e la seconda creazione’ . Iride , Vol 7: 402-411.
• (1991a) ‘Fundamentalist Intolerance or Civil Disobedience? Strange Loops in Liberal Theory’ Political Theory, Vol 19: 572-605 (with Christos Mantziaris).
• (1991b) ‘Natur und ‘blinder Fleck’. Zum Potential Marxscher Theorie für das Verständnis ökologischer Probleme’ . Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie, Vol. 39: 1020-1042.
• (1991c) ‘The Ecological Challenge to Marxism’ New Left Review 187 (May–June), 103-120.

Some book chapters

• (2012) Klimawandel und die Rolle der Sozialwissenschaften, in: Enger, Heike/Schmid, Martin (Hrsg.): Jenseits traditioneller Wissenschaft? Zur Rolle von Wissenschaft in einer vorsorgenden Gesellschaft, München: oekom verlag, 95-110 (with Markus Rhomberg and Nico Stehr).
• (2012) Ökologische Kommunikation, in: Luhmann-Handbuch. Leben - Werk – Wirkung, Oliver Jahraus/Armin Nassehi/Mario Grizelj/Irmhild Saake/Christian Kirchmeier/Julian Müller (eds.) ISBN 3-476-02368-0
• (2012) The Climate Change Debate, in W.S. Bainbridge (ed.) Leadership in Science and Technology: A Reference Handbook, Sage, 480-487.
• (2011) Transnational Policy Networks and the Role of Advocacy Scientists: From Ozone Layer Protection to Climate Change, in: Global Activism Reader, Luc Reydams (ed.), Continuum Publishers,
• (2008) What may the Sheep safely know? in Knowledge and Democracy, ed. Nico Stehr. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books, 85-104.

References

1. STS Priority Group
2. Grundmann at the Royal Sutton
3. Grundmanns tumblr account
4. Wo steht die Risikosoziologie?
5. Ökologische Kommunikation, in: Luhmann-Handbuch. Leben - Werk – Wirkung, Oliver Jahraus/Armin Nassehi/Mario Grizelj/Irmhild Saake/Christian Kirchmeier/Julian Müller (eds.) ISBN 3-476-02368-0
6. ^ Grundmann Technische Problemlösung, Verhandeln und umfassende Problemlösung, (eng. technical problem solving, negotiating, and comprehensive problem solving) in Gesellschaftliche Komplexität und kollektive Handlungsfähigkeit (Social complexity and collective action), ed. Schimank, U. (2000). Frankfurt/Main: Campus, p.154-182 book summary at the Max Planck Gesellschaft
7. ‘The Ecological Challenge to Marxism’ New Left Review 187 (May–June), 103-120
8. Entry of the doctorate at Cadmus
9. ‘Technology reveals the active relation of man to nature, the direct process of the production of his life, and thereby it also lays bare the process of the production of the social relations of his life and of the mental conceptions that flow from these relations.’ Footnote 4 in Karl Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1, trans. Ben Fowkes, Penguin Classics (London, New York: Penguin Books, 1990), p. 493.
10. ‘Why is Werner Sombart not part of the core of classical sociologists? From fame to (near) oblivion’ Journal of Classical Sociology 1 (2): 257–287
11. Transnationale Umweltpolitik zum Schutz der Ozonschicht
12. Transnational Environmental Policy: Reconstructing Ozone. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415224233
13. (2005) Ozone and Climate: Scientific consensus and leadership, Science, Technology, and Human Values 31(1): 73-101 .
14. The Power of Scientific Knowledge. From Research to Public Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107022-72-0
15. Experts: The knowledge and power of expertise. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-60803-9
16. Cook et al, Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature
17. Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process, 1995. ISBN 9780198293330
18. Debunking sceptical propaganda Book review by Reiner Grundmann, BioSocieties (2013) 8, 370–374. doi:10.1057/biosoc.2013.15
19. Susan Wright, Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering, 1972-1982 (1994). ISBN 9780226910659
20. (2005) Ozone and Climate: Scientific consensus and leadership, Science, Technology, and Human Values 31(1): 73-101
21. Schwarz, Susanne (13. April 2014). "Arbeitsgruppe drei veröffentlicht Ergebnisse". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. (2000) ‘National elites and transnational discourses in the Balkan war: a comparison between the French, German and British establishment press’ European Journal of Communication 15 (3): 299-320 (with Sue Wright and Dennis Smith).
23. Disputed climate science in the media: Do countries matter? Public Understanding of Science doi: 10.1177/0963662512467732
24. The Discourse of Climate Change: a corpus-based approach, Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines 4 (2): 113 – 133 (with Ramesh Krishnamurthy)
25. ^ Tuesday, May 29, 2012 Interview with Reiner Grundmann by Hans von Storch
26. ^ see Climate Change: What role for Sociology? A Response to Constance Lever-Tracy
27. Thursday, September 19, 2013, The coming crisis of climate science? by Reiner Grundmann
28. Ozone Histories of Convenience: Grundmann on Sunstein, 13 November 2012 rogerpielkejr.blogspot.
29. E.g. ‘Wissenspolitik ist Macht’ Grundmann in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 23 November 1999, 54.
30. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/conference/fac-sci/circling-the-square/index.aspx

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