REPRESENTING NATURE - Making Sense of Nature - page 49

the author recovered from mental illness by immersing himself in 'the
living earth'. But in other cases the role played by representers is not obvi-
ous at all. For instance, we typically take the 'voice' of a scientist to be
neutral, as if s/he is but a mouthpiece for the biophysical world . 11 Represen-
tations are, therefore, just that: re -presentations of phenomena, evidence,
stories, facts, occurrences, experiences and so on, regardless of the spe-
cific context or the particular 'genre' of representation. This implies that
epistemic communities always act as both represent ers (vessels/carriers) and
as re-present atives (substitutes/replacements) at one and the same time.
That they do so differently in the detail does not alter the fact of this
double-headed commonality.
Representations: constructed and political
We often think that these two aspects of representation are separate, but
they're not. The first, which we might associate with a journalist or an
academic, involves making something present to us spatially (here) and tem-
porally (today) via words, images and so on. Things, events, information,
or knowledge from the past, or from elsewhere in the here-and-now, are
brought to our doorstep as it were. Consider a daily newspaper: we are
enjoined to think and feel about that which might not otherwise be in
front of us, near to us or visible to us. The second aspect of representa-
tion we tend to associate with democratic political systems and most legal
systems. We elect senators or MPs to represent our views and desires in our
absence (hence the term 'representative democracy'); delegates and consuls
are appointed to act on behalf of whole countries or their leaders; and (if
in court) lawyers are our appointed defenders or prosecutors, depending.
To g e t h e r , t h e y stand for our interests and wishes because they stand in for us
physically and rhetorically. 12
Here we appreciate why the two senses of representation - 'epistemic'
and 'political' - are intimately connected for they both involve substitution,
as 'iconic representations' make very clear (see Box 2.3 ). Representers of
various kinds are doing exactly what the word implies: they are making
sense of the world for themselves and us, and thus acting as representa-
tives (whether they occupy the political-legal sphere or not). In some form
then - and as I said, it's often obvious - these representatives are interpos-
ing themselves between us and that to which they refer. 13 Sometimes, there's
more complexity to this than meets even those with keen analytical vision.
Consider Al Gore's well-known documentary film and book An inconve-
nient truth - a science-based plea for global action to reduce greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions drastically. As one critic astutely asks, 'is he [Gore] speak-
ing as a politician, a lay expert [on climate science], or as a spokesperson
for science?' (Hulme, 2009: 81). Perhaps it's the conflation of all three roles
that helps explain the power and popularity of An inconvenient truth among
diverse audiences worldwide.