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UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A “Stupid Little Fish”: Science, Law and the Politics of Environmental Decline in California Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9cc8n1k4 Author Scoville, Caleb Richard Publication Date 2020 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California A “Stupid Little Fish”: Science, Law and the Politics of Environmental Decline in California By Caleb Richard Scoville A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Marion Fourcade, Chair Professor Neil Fligstein Professor Calvin Morrill Professor Andrew Lakoff Summer 2020 Abstract A “Stupid Little Fish”: Science, Law and the Politics of Environmental Decline in California by Caleb Richard Scoville Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of California, Berkeley Professor Marion Fourcade, Chair This dissertation presents an in-depth study of one of the most controversial endangered species in United States history, and advances a theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of environmental problems in contemporary society. The delta smelt is a tiny fish found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the lynchpin of California’s water system. Legal protections of this once obscure species have made it a central player in California’s “water wars,” mobilizing political actors from the local level to the presidency. Drawing on archival sources, field observations, interviews, thousands of news articles, and social media data, I argue that far from being a mere conflict between interested actors, the contemporary controversy over the delta smelt emerged via sequential clashes among social domains which share jurisdiction over the nonhuman environment yet see “nature” in different ways. I call this process the “intervention cascade.” In the first chapter, “Becoming Endangered,” I show that it was only through the process of reengineering California’s river systems that the delta smelt came to be understood as a unique species, and one in danger of becoming extinct. Beyond simply being driven to near-extinction by California’s water infrastructure, the delta smelt was produced as an object of knowledge by that very infrastructural intervention in the first place. In the second chapter, “Constructing Environmental Compliance,” I theorize scientists as compliance professionals in relation to environmental law, tracing the changing relationship between science and law as the delta smelt’s population has declined. I explain why three distinct “compliance relations” became dominant at different junctures in the course of three decades’ worth of attempts to reconcile the delta smelt’s continued existence with the operation of California’s water infrastructure. In chapter three, “From the Water Wars to the Culture Wars,” I show how attempts to protect the species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act overflowed into a polarized public sphere. The controversy took on a life of its own, disconnected from and disproportionate to the delta smelt’s modest impact on water policy. Rather than the controversy being the straightforward result of constituencies pursuing their interests, the delta smelt’s status as a political symbol has been an important cause of the very constituencies that claim to have an interest in California water politics at all. Broadly, this research motivates a framework for understanding how the nonhuman environment mediates social conflicts, accounting for the dual realities of rapid environmental decline and intense disagreement over the meaning of nature. 1 Acknowledgements Infrastructures are often least perceptible to those most reliant on them, only to become visible when they break down (Star and Ruhleder 1996). Recent periods of extreme drought have confronted Californians with the prospect, and at times reality, of the failure of the state’s mammoth water systems. Half-empty reservoirs with “bathtub-rings” have shown them far below normal water storage capacity. Fallow fields and laid off farm workers have became symbols of water scarcity’s economic toll. Restrictions on domestic water use have frustrated everyday habits. In a similar but far more extreme manner, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the infrastructures of ordinary life. As I write these words, I am fortunate to be in good health and economic security during an acute global crisis. While many have suffered fates much worse, the pandemic interrupted the final stages of my dissertation research and writing. In so doing, it laid bare the infrastructures that had until then made my work possible. As a parent of a small child, access to affordable childcare has been essential to making progress toward the completion of my doctorate. Much as a drought can make physical infrastructures visible in new ways, there is nothing like a pandemic to shine light on all of the people who help us manage our daily lives. This dissertation is dedicated to the teachers at the University of California, Berkeley’s Early Childhood Education Program who made my experience in graduate school possible by caring for my child during the day while I was at work. I hope that early childhood educators will one day receive the remuneration and respect that they deserve, and that high quality affordable childcare will become a universal social right. This dissertation owes to the influence and support of so many individuals that it would be impossible to reliably list them all. Nonetheless I must make an attempt with the knowledge that the following will not do justice to the task. My academic mentors at the University of California, Berkeley helped me turn a set of vague theoretical intuitions into a research agenda. Although I did not come with a dissertation topic in hand, I did have the good sense to come to Berkeley with the intention of working with Marion Fourcade. That proved to be one of the best decisions I made in graduate school. Marion has served as an exemplar of the type of scholar I hope to become. Her intellectual curiosity knows no end. The breadth of her scholarly knowledge is staggering in an era of hyper-specialization. And she somehow manages to write in a way that is at once erudite and unpretentious, incisive in its analysis, and fair to all interlocutors. As my dissertation chair, she has always been available to provide honest redirection and constructive criticism on the turn of a dime, often providing in-line comments on multiple emailed drafts in the course of a single day. At the same time, she has entrusted me with the space to develop my own intellectual personality and to take ownership of my own scholarly ventures, even when they have taken me far outside the conventional jurisdiction of the discipline of sociology. When I received my first email from Neil Fligstein, my life changed forever. He was the chair of the admissions committee when I applied to Berkeley, and the face of the department until I began the program. Since then, Neil has been a consistent source of scholarly, strategic, and personal support. In his seminars, workshops, and one-on-one meetings, Neil has been exceedingly generous with practical guidance on academic writing, presenting, and publishing. Whenever my aim is to make sure I am communicating my ideas in a clear and compelling way to the broadest possible audience, Neil is my first stop. It is no accident that Neil played an active role at critical moments of this project’s formation over my six years at Berkeley. His advice on i research design and theoretical framing got this project off the ground in the early stages, and helped me get unstuck in various points thereafter. From crafting my initial plan for my Master’s paper in his course during my first year (which would become chapter one of this dissertation and my first major empirical publication), to developing my prospectus, to refining my job market talk, Neil has been an indispensable mentor. Among graduate students in the Departments of Sociology and Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Calvin Morrill is notorious for being one of the most genuinely helpful people on the UC Berkeley campus. Perhaps because he is a great ethnographer, Cal’s ability to listen is unmatched. When going into a meeting with Cal, you know that you will not be pushed to think about the world in his way, or change your topic to suit his whims. He will meet you exactly where you are and help you develop a concrete plan to develop the best possible version of your ideas. Cal’s advanced methods course was where I began fieldwork for this dissertation project. Since then he has provided invaluable methodological guidance. Cal helped me gain confidence in my methodological eclecticism, while also forcing me to consider potential objections to how I mobilize evidence. Additionally, Cal’s expertise in the sociology of law helped me to develop my contributions to that subfield when this project unexpectedly took me into that terrain. I admired Andrew Lakoff’s work prior to coming to Berkeley, but our paths did not cross until I saw that he published an article on the delta smelt just as I was completing my Master’s paper on the case. I must admit that as a budding scholar, I wondered if I should avoid wading further into another scholar’s research site. After experiencing his generosity first hand, it became clear how misplaced my worries were. Andy was among the first to encourage me to write a full dissertation on the delta smelt. He immediately treated me as a serious interlocutor and collaborator. Together we organized an interdisciplinary conference on water in California in 2017. He introduced me to the vibrant intellectual community surrounding Limn via workshops and panel presentations.
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