City Air: Settling Controversies about ‘Socio-Natures'

The objective of this paper is to explore, both theoretically and empirically, some of the contradictions and tensions associated with so-called ‘socio-natures’, implying a continuous transgression of boundaries of society and nature, politics and science.  Drawing on political-ecological work of Latour, Morton, a.o., and using empirical material pertaining to ongoing controversies about fine particulate air pollution in the metropolitan region of Antwerp, the paper focuses on two issues in particular. Firstly, it aims to show how fine particulate air pollution (FPAP) is a thoroughly hybrid phenomenon, which can only be understood by taking into account dynamically unfolding and material relations between human and nonhuman entities. The paper, secondly, examines the position of science in the controversies around FPAP and analyses how scientists have become deeply embroiled in the public and political debate about FPAP and its implications for public health, environment and urban design.  It analyses why FPAP is not a undisputed ‘‘matter of fact’’ which can simply be uncovered by mono-naturalist science.  Producing FPAP data or setting emission standards rather turns out to be an eminently political process that undermines the claims of universalistic science to determine ‘matters of fact’ and close the social and political controversies around them.