Why is technocracy persistent in industrial risk? Empirical evidence from an in‐depth case study in Italy

Abstract

AbstractRisk expertise is characterised by procedures that emphasise scientific and technical aspects of risk management and downplay citizens’ concerns and lay knowledge. In this paper, we aim at accounting for some of the reasons why technocracy is persistent in industrial risk expertise. Using the conceptual tools provided by the political sociology of expertise and based on empirical research conducted with mixed qualitative techniques, we study different types of expertise about industrial risk in the petrochemical area of Porto Marghera (Venice, Italy). The first one is performed by the Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale del Veneto (ARPAV, Regional Agency of Veneto for Environmental Protection), which is responsible for chemical risk management, and the plants of the area. The second one is performed by the Assemblea permanente contro il pericolo chimico (APCPC, Permanent Assembly Against Industrial Risk), a citizens’ association of the neighbouring community of Marghera. In this case study, we show that technocratic procedures are persistent in industrial risk due to strategic relationships between the public administration in charge of risk regulation enforcement and private chemical companies, the absence of Italian laws on inclusive participatory arenas about industrial risk, and the characteristics of the citizens’ mobilisation, which focuses on plants’ delocalisation rather than challenging the ARPAV's and plants’ technocracy.