In this episode we ask an expert on expertise what she knows for sure.

Dr Anna Alexandrova is a Reader in the Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and the principal investigator for the ‘Expertise Under Pressure’ group at CRASSH.

Her latest research is co-authored with people currently in severe financial hardship, and combines their insights and lived experiences with conventional academic approaches to articulate a more authentic, democratic understanding of what it means to truly ‘flourish’ – work which could have significant impact on the government’s current wellbeing agenda.

At a moment when expertise, globally, is under extreme pressure how can we make space for different ways of knowing? Is it reasonable to expect cast-iron certainty from our public experts? And what did Dr Alexandrova learn as a teenager that has shaped her whole career?

Follow Anna Alexandrova and the Expertise Under Pressure team on Twitter via @ExpertiseUnder

Anna’s writings can be found on her PhilPeople profile (https://philpeople.org/profiles/anna-alexandrova) and her webpage (https://sites.google.com/site/aaalexandrova/). Her 2017 book A Philosophy for the Science of Well-being is now available in paperback: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-philosophy-for-the-science-of-well-being-9780197598894

You can find out about her ongoing work on responsible science of wellbeing (https://twitter.com/BennettInst/status/1409434292430770176) by following the Bennett Institute for Public Policy @BennettInst.

Some recent articles include “Wellbeing and Pluralism”(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-020-00323-8), “Happiness Economics as Technocracy” (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioural-public-policy/article/abs/happiness-economics-as-technocracy/ED0C177E734BCAF9458CF4755775B603), “Mental Health Without Wellbeing” (https://philarchive.org/archive/WREMHWv1).

And read more about national poverty charity Turn2Us and the co-production research work mentioned in this episode here:

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Working-With-Us/Co-production-and-involvement-at-Turn2Us