The Weaponization of Expertise
How Elites Fuel Populism
Jacob Hale Russell ; Dennis Patterson
- The
- problem
- with
- expertise—and
- the
- dark
- side
- of
- the
- equation
- “knowledge
- =
- power.”Experts
- are
- not
- infallible.
- Treating
- them
- as
- such
- has
- done
- us
- all
- a
- grave
- disservice
- and,
- as
- The
- Weaponization
- of
- Expertise
- makes
- painfully
- clear,
- given
- rise
- to
- the
- very
- populism
- that
- all-knowing
- experts
- and
- their
- elite
- coterie
- decry.
- Jacob
- Hale
- Russell
- and
- Dennis
- Patterson
- use
- the
- devastating
- example
- of
- the
- COVID-19
- pandemic
- to
- illustrate
- their
- case,
- revealing
- how
- the
- hubris
- of
- all-too-human
- experts
- undermined—perhaps
- irreparably—public
- faith
- in
- elite
- policymaking.
- Paradoxically,
- by
- turning
- science
- into
- dogmatism,
- the
- overweening
- elite
- response
- has
- also
- proved
- deeply
- corrosive
- to
- expertise
- itself—in
- effect,
- doing
- exactly
- what
- elite
- policymakers
- accuse
- their
- critics
- of
- doing.A
- much-needed
- corrective
- to
- a
- dangerous
- blind
- faith
- in
- expertise,
- The
- Weaponization
- of
- Expertise
- identifies
- a
- cluster
- of
- pathologies
- that
- have
- enveloped
- many
- institutions
- meant
- to
- help
- referee
- expert
- knowledge,
- in
- particular
- a
- disavowal
- of
- the
- doubt,
- uncertainty,
- and
- counterarguments
- that
- are
- crucial
- to
- the
- accumulation
- of
- knowledge.
- At
- a
- time
- when
- trust
- in
- expertise
- and
- faith
- in
- institutions
- are
- most
- needed
- and
- most
- lacking,
- this
- work
- issues
- a
- stark
- reminder
- that
- a
- crisis
- of
- misinformation
- may
- well
- begin
- at
- the top.
