A brief history of usable climate science

Recently, certain members of the scientific community have framed anthropogenic climate change as an invitation to reimagine the practice of science. These calls to reinvent science coalesce around the notion of usable knowledge, signaling the need to ensure that research will serve the needs of those impacted by climate change. But how novel is this concept? A historical analysis reveals that the goal of usability is haunted by Euro-American conceptions of instrumental knowledge dating back to the nineteenth century. Even as climate research institutions have embraced the radical epistemic ideal of usability over the past 40 years, they have clung to older definitions of research that are at odds with its anti-individualist implications.