Alexander von Schwerin, PD Dr.

Keywords:

• Life Sciences
• Agriculture
• Bioeconomy
• Biotech Industry
• Transnational Environmental Movements
• Twentieth Century
• Digital Humanities

 

Research Themes:

• Life Sciences in the Max Planck Society
• Environmental Movements and Knowledge Circulation
• The Life Sciences in the Global Strategies of CO2 Reduction
• The Anthropocene Biosphere

Schwerin is a historian of science and technology and specializes in twentieth-century Europe. His work focuses on the importance of biomass, agriculture and biotechnologies in the global CO2 cycle. He conducts historical and interdisciplinary research into the growing importance of biotechnologies in global strategies to reduce CO2 and preserve biodiversity. Particular attention is paid to 1. the self-image of science (e.g. using the example of the Max Planck Society) in relation to social expectations, 2. conflicting goals between social problem areas such as food security and biogenic conversion of traditional industries (OECD, EU and federal bioeconomy strategies) and 3. the role of environmental knowledge transfer. Alexander works on these topics on various levels: as a historiographical genealogy of problems, strategies and social formations; in the quantitative analysis of publication data together with cooperation partners from the digital humanities; in the evaluation of research programmes and policy papers together with cooperation partners from the social and political sciences.

Projects:

• Science and Responsibility: The Life Sciences of the Max Planck Society, 1948–2004
• Evaluation of the National and European Bioeconomy strategy in relation to the goals of COP28
• Science and Democracy: Social, political and epistemic Dynamics between International Environmental Movements, Science and Research

 

Sub-projects:

• “Bioeconomy”: Towards a New Social and Epistemic Common Sense?
• Narratives and Political Decision Making
• Social movements as actors in the system of scientific quality assurance ("Watch Dogs")