The EPISTO project
EPISTO is a 5 year research project directed by Senior Researcher Cathrine Holst, funded by The Research Council of Norway and hosted by ARENA - Centre for European Studies at the University of Oslo. The kick-off conference will be the first of several international events in the project period.
Conference outline
EPISTO inquires into the role of knowledge and expertise in modern democracies with a particular focus on 'epistocratic' developments in the European Union (epistocracy = rule of the knowers). The conference will be organized around three main themes:
- Expert-rule and democratic legitimacy
- The role of knowledge and expertise in EU governance
- The European Commission's use of expertise
Discussions around theme 1 will concentrate on implications of modern democracies' knowledge and expertise dependence for political and democratic theory, with a particular focus on epistemic approaches to deliberative democracy.
Speeches and papers addressing theme 2 will discuss general trends and developments in the EU with regard to the role of expertise and experts in political decision-making, the implications for EU's democratic legitimacy, and analytical strategies for studying expertise and democratic legitimacy in an EU context.
Theme 3 will focus on the European Commission's use of expertise, and the Commission's expert group system in particular.
Practical information for participants
Practical information is available here.
Participation is limited to registered participants. For more information, contact Senior Researcher Cathrine Holst at cathrine.holst@arena.uio.no, or Administrative Director Geir Kværk at g.o.kvark@arena.uio.no.