Interactional Expertise
Because CoLab tends to focus on collaboration between experts from different disciplines, we also consider the nature of interdisciplinary expertise. One area of focus has been on the concept of interactional expertise — a concept from sociology of science that captures the ability to speak the language of a discipline without the corresponding ability to engage independently in its practice (Collins & Evans, 2007). Interactional expertise has the potential to legitimize scientifically-relevant knowledge held by many people who would otherwise not be seen as experts in those fields.
How should we understand interactional expertise?
Our early work included a critical analysis of the concept of interactional expertise. Specifically, we argue that the way Collins and Evans — who originally developed the concept — have operationalized it in a way that leads to an overly narrow conception, which risks excluding the very voices it was originally created to legitimize. We offer a pluralistic account of interactional expertise in its place which shows how failing to “sound like” a traditional expert — which is needed to qualify as an interactional expert on Collins’ and Evans’ view — can actually be an asset in creating more objective knowledge (Plaisance & Kennedy, 2014).
What are the benefits of acquiring interactional expertise?
Because interactional expertise captures the ability to speak the language of a discipline, the concept can be used to capture the kind of expertise held by many philosophers of science with respect to particular scientific fields. CoLab Director Katie Plaisance draws on this concept to examine how many philosophers of science develop such expertise and what other benefits arise from doing so. She argues that engaging closely with scientists, which is necessary for developing interactional expertise, generates important ‘socio-epistemic benefits’ that can pave the way for having an impact within scientific domains (Plaisance, 2020).
The early research that served as a foundation for the above projects was supported by a UW/SSHRC Seed Grant.