Nonknowledge and Politics: What Can We Learn from the Sociology of Ignorance?

In political science – in political theory as well as in policy analysis – the intersection of politics and knowledge is widely (and controversially) discussed. Be it from a theoretical perspective when engaging in debates about the significance of knowledge, truth or the best argument for democracy or from the angle of policy analysis, which e. g. researches evidence in policy-making, the significance of epistemic communities or the role of ideas in policy-making in general. Despite the long-standing tradition of including “knowledge” into theoretical considerations and empirical analysis, most of these accounts do not systematically discuss the role of nonknowledge and ignorance (but cf. Paul/Haddad 2019, Marder 2015, Perl/Howlett/Ramesh 2018). Nonknowledge still plays a subordinate role or is conceived of as the negative counterpart of knowledge, which is to be overcome and thus a knowledge not (yet) produced (Paul/Haddad 2019: 301). Contrary to the understanding of nonknowledge mainly as a lack of knowledge, sociological theories of nonknowledge and ignorance provide a fruitful (and ongoing) debate which can also enrich our understanding of the role of nonknowledge in politics. Without neglecting achievements in political science literature to account for the role of nonknowledge (cf. e. g. Marder 2015, Paul/Haddad 2019), the paper takes the sociological debate as point of departure and asks how it can inform questions relevant for political scientists and policy analysis: First, sociology of ignorance provides us with a more nuanced vocabulary for differentiating distinct forms of nonknowledge (e. g. Gross 2007), and, second, it reminds us that nonknowledge is also produced and stabilized by social, cultural, and political processes (cf. Proctor 2008: 3, Proctor/Schiebinger 2008). This can inform our understanding of mechanisms related to the construction and stabilisation of different kinds of nonknowledge by political actors and institutions and of the intersections with power, truth, and exclusionary practices (cf. McGoey 2012a, 2007, Code 2007, Heinelt et al. 2011, Douglas 1987). Third, sociology of ignorance highlights that ignorance might be a political strategy in some cases but that nonknowledge also exhibits beneficial and positive features beyond that (McGoey 2012a: 3, 8): it is relevant for the stability and also the disruption (Rancière 1999) of political orders (Wehling 2014, McGoey 2012a) and therefore opens up perspectives for reconsidering the role of nonknowledge in politics and policies. The paper aims at – by drawing on the sociological discussion – suggesting a conceptual framework for how to scrutinize nonknowledge and ignorance in politics.