This article contests the view that environmental groups act mainly as megaphones for scientists. It asserts that environmental groups have an independent, often dominant role, in shaping norms that govern environmental policy.
The theory of epistemic communities, as advanced by Haas, is analysed in the context of the whaling and CFC/ozone depletion issues. It is found that the alleged role of epistemic communities as legitimate bearers of truth has been exaggerated and that we need to develop environmental policy in a context of ‘post positivism’.
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