Alexander Ruser is Professor of Sociology at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. After earning a Ph.D. in political Sociology from the Max-Weber-Institute at Heidelberg University and research stays in Japan and South Korea, he was a Dahrendorf Fellow at the Hertie School of Governance Berlin and the London School of Economics and Political Science , Temporary Professor of Sociology at Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen and a visiting fellow at Punjab University, Chandigarh. Alex writes on the role of scientific knowledge and expertise in social and environmental politics.