Penachioni, Júlia Battistuzzi; Pires, Antonio; Bin, Adriana; de Oliveira, Amâncio J; Murat, Biegzat; Sugimoto, Cassidy R.
This paper examines how scientific knowledge is mobilized within diplomatic discourse in the United Nations General Assembly's Fourth Committee. By combining computational text analysis with qualitative interpretation of 364 meeting transcripts between 2010 and 2023, the research seeks to answer the following question: what functions does scientific knowledge perform in UN diplomatic speech? From our analysis, the answer to this question is that science performs multiple diplomatic functions simultaneously. The findings indicate that science plays a role that is way more complex than simply providing technical information for policymaking. Scientific knowledge is often mobilized to legitimize political positions, reinforce international norms, organize multilateral coordination, support risk governance and preparedness, facilitate access to technologies, and project scientific credibility and international status.