In this commentary we provide a selective overview of the kinds of insights that a sociology of expertise can provide in better articulating the stakes of current politico-epistemic conflicts catalysed by COVID-19. In doing so, we argue that one of the ways that sociology can fruitfully engage with the pre-, intra- and post-pandemic societal responses is through its distinctive perspective on expertise. To exemplify the potential of this perspective, we present three dimensions of the pandemic that a sociology of expertise opens up avenues for exploring: (a) the formation of expert publics; (b) transnational expert dynamics; and (c) expert moral authority. Together these three dimensions show how expertise constitutes a crucial nexus for understanding how contemporary societies respond to global crises.

中文翻译：

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流行病知识分子

在这篇评论中，我们选择性地概述了专业社会学可以提供的各种见解，以更好地阐明由 COVID-19 催化的当前政治认知冲突的利害关系。在这样做时，我们认为社会学可以通过其对专业知识的独特视角来有效地参与大流行前、大流行中和大流行后的社会反应的方式之一。为了举例说明这种观点的潜力，我们提出了大流行的三个方面，专业社会学为这些方面开辟了探索途径：(a) 专家公众的形成；(b) 跨国专家动态；(c) 专家道德权威。这三个维度共同展示了专业知识如何构成理解当代社会如何应对全球危机的关键纽带。