ABSTRACT
Epistemic communities are networks of experts who persuade others (usually elite decision-makers) of their shared norms and policy goals by virtue of their professional knowledge. The concept of epistemic communities did not become widely known in the environmental politics literature until Peter Haas’s 1990 book on the Mediterranean Action Programme. In recent years, the literature has gone beyond the special issue to rethink and explore the boundaries of the concept, particularly in light of increasing globalization and the emergence of new forms of transnational global governance, of which cooperation in dealing with climate change is a prime example. In an increasingly globalized world, epistemic communities, along with other transnational and non-state actors, such as advocacy networks, multinational corporations, lobbying groups, interpretive communities, rhetorical communities, and communities of practice are of growing importance. The concept of epistemic community has faced some criticism, especially stemming from the tendency to neglect the politics and power dynamics that provide the context for knowledge production.
