Agnotology and knowledge management in parliamentary library and research services
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The exclusion of ignorance from Knowledge Management is a weakness. The paper considers the significance of agnotology – the deliberate creation of ignorance – and other aspects of ignorance for the work of parliamentary libraries and research services. Ignorance is frequently a rational choice and the supposed rejection of expertise and the impact of ‘post-truth’ politics are both exaggerated and open to more positive interpretation. Parliamentary services must nevertheless engage with these issues, and the real disconnects between scientific knowledge and political decision. Engagement raises questions for the way these services work, what they offer and their ethical framework.
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Koenig, Michael ‘Knowledge Management: Where is it Going?’ in McCallum, Sally; Bultrini, Leda; Sempéré, Julien & Newman, Wilda (eds.) ‘Knowledge Management in Libraries and Organizations’, De Gruyter, Berlin, 2016, p. 20. This work, incidentally, claims rising interest in knowledge management on the evidence of an increasing number of academic articles. The Google trend may say more about interest amongst management practitioners.
Proctor, Robert N. in ‘Agnotology - the making and unmaking of ignorance’ Robert N. Proctor & Londa Schiebinger (eds.), Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2008, p. 2
Stewart, Allison ‘Managing with ignorance: the new ideal’ in Matthias Gross & Linsey McGoey (eds.) ‘Routledge International Handbook of Ignorance Studies’, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxford 2015, p. 373
Israilides, John; Lock, Russell & Cooke, Louise ‘Ignorance management’ Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy Volume 1 (2013) no. 1, pp. 71-85; ISSN: 2286-2668 p. 82 http://www.managementdynamics.ro/index.php/journal/article/view/4
Zack, Michael H. ‘Managing Organizational Ignorance’ Knowledge Directions, Volume 1, Summer, 1999, pp. 36-49 http://web.cba.neu.edu/~mzack/articles/orgig/orgig.htm NB This may not be the first statement of the issue.
Based on Somin, Ilya ‘Rational ignorance’ in Gross & McGoey (eds.)
ibid p. 274
Behr, Rafael ‘While Labour complains, the Tories simply govern’, Guardian 24/8/16 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/24/labour-complains-tories-govern
Discussion in Schultz, David. American Politics in the Age of Ignorance: Why Lawmakers Choose Belief over Research. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. DOI: 10.1057/9781137308733. (p. 10, Kindle edition)
ibid p. 368
Proctor, Robert N. ‘Preface’ in Robert N. Proctor and Londa Schiebinger (eds.) ‘Agnotology - the making and unmaking of ignorance’, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2008
Den Haan, Wouter et al http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/08/10/brexit-and-the-economy-are-economists-out-of-touch-with-voters-and-politicians/
Lacasse, François. Mythes, savoirs et décisions politiques (Sociologies) (French Edition) (Kindle Locations 4228-4233). Presses universitaires de France (réédition numérique FeniXX). Kindle Edition. [Original edition 1995]
Tetlock, Philip E. ‘Expert Political Judgment’, Princeton University Press, 1996
The “284 participants...were highly educated (the majority had doctorates and almost all had postgraduate training in fields such as political science (in particular, international relations and various branches of area studies), economics, international law and diplomacy, business administration, public policy, and journalism); they had, on average, twelve years of relevant work experience; they came from many walks of professional life, including academia, think tanks, government service, and international institutions...” ibid, p. 44. In other words, a similar profile to the specialists employed (or external specialists contracted) by parliamentary research services.
As expressed in humorous style by a reviewer - Menand, Louis ‘Everybody’s an Expert’ http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/12/05/everybodys-an-expert
Tetlock, Philip E. Expert Political Judgment (p. 72). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.
For risks in using experts see also Tilcsik, András & Almandoz, Juan https://hbr.org/2016/08/when-having-too-many-experts-on-the-board-backfires. Research into the US local banking industry showed that banks facing situations of heightened uncertainty which had a higher than average ratio of industry experts on the board were more likely to fail. The explanation offered: “three factors that can compromise the effectiveness of expert-dominated boards...The first factor is what psychologists call “cognitive entrenchment.” As we gain deeper expertise in an area, we acquire more accurate and detailed knowledge but also become less flexible in our thinking and less likely to change our perspective...Indeed, related research shows that executive teams made up of many industry experts are less flexible in responding to changes in the competitive environment... The second factor is overconfidence, a common problem in expert judgment that affects experts in a wide range of fields, from doctors and physicists to economists and CIA analysts....The third factor has to do with the level of “task conflict”—the extent to which board members have different viewpoints, ideas, and opinions about the decisions they face...research suggests that a high proportion of domain experts can suppress task conflict because non-expert directors may defer too much to the judgment of experts.”
See e.g. Sipamba, Elsie ‘Assessment of the Levels of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Held by Parliamentarians and the Determination of Training and Professional Development Needs—The Zambian Case’ Parliamentary Affairs (2012) 65, 608–627 doi:10.1093/pa/gss028
Rozzoli, Kevin ‘Assisting Parliamentarians to Develop Their Capacities: Experiences from Working in Indonesia and the South Pacific’ Parliamentary Affairs (2012) 65, 628–639 doi:10.1093/pa/gss027
ibid p. 629
ibid p. 630
O’Brien, Mitchell, Stapenhurst, Rick & Brooke, Prater ‘World Bank Institute’s Approach to Parliamentary Capacity Strengthening’ Parliamentary Affairs (2012) 65, 593–607 doi:10.1093/pa/gss022 p. 595
On induction “many courses run by parliaments concentrate on matters directly affecting parliamentary administration, practice and procedure, structure of bills, reporting debates, committees, chamber services, library and research functions, salaries, remunerations and emoluments. There is much more to being an effective member than can be gleaned from this information...what is presented amounts to information overload. Much is forgotten within days. Induction programmes take members on a practical and emotional rollercoaster. While the programme may be clear to the presenters it makes little impact on members...Research underscores the need for continuing education once members have become settled, but they get caught up in the many aspects of their role and, with heavy demands on their time, find it difficult to contemplate further programmes even if on offer. Parliaments also distribute copious material in the expectation that members will use it later, but research reveals this material sits on the shelf unread...information from inductions or fact sheets does not readily lead to acquired knowledge. If the education process goes is not on-going, the investment in undertaking initial programmes is lost.” Rozzoli op. cit. pp. 633-4
Hatemi, Peter K. & McDermott, Rose ‘Give me attitudes’, Annual Review of Political Science, 2016, vol. 19 pp. 331-50
ibid pp 341-2
Professional, neutral expert support to US Congress committees has been reduced in recent decades and it is claimed that input from (often young and short-stay) policy staff of Members, and from lobbyists, has supplanted it: Drutman, Lee & Teles, Steven http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/when-congress-cant-think-for-itself-it-turns-to-lobbyists/387295/
Proctor op. cit.
This is discussed using the BBC’s approach to balance as an example, but could be applied to any institution required to be impartial - Poole, Steve ‘How we let the phoneys take control and debase the language of politics’ The Observer 14/8/16. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/13/political-lies-donald-trump-post-truth-politics
Hess, David J. ‘Undone science and social movements: a review and typology’ in Gross & McGoey (eds.) p. 149
Ogien, Albert ‘Doubt, ignorance and trust: on the unwarranted fears raised by the doubt-mongers’ in Gross & McGoey (eds.)
One commentator contrasted the Brexit campaign - and its many accusations of inaccurate content on both sides - with a New Zealand referendum in which the agency managing the process had published up-front a wide range of explanatory materials and, presumably because of its degree of public trust and the quality of the materials issued, it succeeded in keeping the subsequent debate within some factual limits. Renwick, Alan; Flinders, Matthew & Jennings, Will http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/08/19/the-uks-referendum-and-post-fact-politics-how-can-campaigners-be-held-accountable-for-their-claims/ “The extensive materials the New Zealand Electoral Commission produced for that country’s 2011 Referendum on the voting system, for example, included detailed explanations of each option, statements of the criteria against which the options might be evaluated, and analyses of how the options perform against these criteria. In what was (it should be acknowledged) a much less intense or politicised campaign than the current one, journalists frequently relied heavily on the Commission’s guide as a basis for their reporting.”
Lacasse op. cit. (Kindle Locations 4149-4151).
Schultz op. cit. p. 13
ibid p. 113
Sarewitz, Daniel ‘The pressure to publish pushes down quality’ Nature, 12/05/16, Vol. 533 p. 147
As heard at a recent presentation on the work of a parliamentary knowledge service
For example, a left perspective on this ‘crisis in western politics’ was recently put forward by Martin Jacques: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/21/death-of-neoliberalism-crisis-in-western-politics
Viner, Katharine https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/12/how-technology-disrupted-the-truth
Viner, op. cit.
Pomerantsev, Peter https://granta.com/why-were-post-fact/ Granta, 20/07/16
Pomerantsev op. cit.
Fukuyama, Francis ‘American Political Decay or Renewal?’ Foreign Affairs. Jul/Aug 2016, Vol. 95 Issue 4, p. 68
Rappert, Brian & Balmer, Brian ‘Ignorance is strength? Intelligence, security and national secrets’ in Gross & McGoey (eds.) pp. 330-31