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Cathrine Holst

Professor - Philosophy

Email cathrine.holst@ifikk.uio.no

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Visiting address Blindernveien 31 Georg Morgenstiernes hus 0313 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1020 Blindern 0315 Oslo

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Cathrine Holst is Professor in Philosophy of Science and Democracy.

She teaches and is in charge of the following courses: Science and democracy: philosophical perspectives (FIL1009) and Innføring i filosofi, politikk og økonomi (PPE1000).

Holst's research topics are at the interface between philosophy and social science. Among her academic interests are political theory and epistemology, democratic theory and public policy, philosophy and sociology of science and expertise, and feminist philosophy. In her empirical research Holst has focused in particular on the relationship between expertise and politics in the EU and in Nordic countries, in gender policy, environmental policy and drug policy, and during the corona crisis.

Holst is leader of the research project The influence of experts on public policy (2023-2027) funded under FRIPRO (Research Council of Norway), and of the research group Science and democracy (SciDem 2023-2026) funded by UiO:Democracy.

Holst has her doctoral degree from the Centre of the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen. She has been Associate Professor in the philosophy of the social sciences at the University of Bergen, Research Professor at ARENA Centre for European Studies and Professor at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo.

Holst was previously guest researcher at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, the Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg, Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, Firenze, Hans Jonas Zentrum, Freie Universität, Berlin, and Department of Political Science, New School for Social Research, New York.

Holst has been leader of several larger research projects on the role of expert knowledge in policy-making and democracy. In 2020-2022 she was leader of a research group at the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Oslo with the project What is a good policy? Political morality, feasibility and democracy (GOODPOL).

Holst is Fellow and member of the board of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. She is deputy leader of the board of the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (TIK) and member of the board of the Science Studies Colloquium Series, University of Oslo, see http://www.uio.no/english/research/news-and-events/events/guest-lectures-seminars/science-studies/

Tags: Philosophy of social science, Political epistemology, Philosophy and public policy, Deliberative democracy, Feminist philosophy, Philosophy of expertise, Expertise politics, Nordic and EU politics, Gender equality policy and family policy, Environmental policy, Drug policy

Pamuk, Zeynep; Herzog, Lisa; Moore, Alfred; Brown, Mark B. & Holst, Cathrine (2026). Universities, science, and politics. Contemporary Political Theory. ISSN 1470-8914. doi: 10.1057/s41296-026-00853-5. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine & Wig, Tore (2026). The affinities between democracy and science. Inquiry (Oslo). ISSN 0020-174X. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Making Epistemic Considerations Primary Does Not Make Social Values Secondary: A Reply to Hilligardt. Social Epistemology Review and reply Collective. ISSN 2471-9560. Full text in Research Archive
Hegstad, Eilev; Holst, Cathrine & Molander, Anders (2026). Er og bør i samfunnsforskningen. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS). ISSN 0040-716X. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Var 22. juli-kommisjonen en sannhetskommisjon? In Lohne, Kjersti; Houge, Anette Bringedal; Liden, Kristoffer & Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (Ed.), Etter 22. juli. Overgangsrettferdighet og terror. Cappelen Damm Forskning/NOASP. ISSN 9788202926151. p. 55–75. doi: 10.23865/cdf.289.ch3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The chapter is an analysis and discussion of the governmental inquiry commission from 2012 that investigated the terror attacks in Norway 22 July 2011. It is argued, first, that the commission was a seemingly ordinary commission. In terms of its composition, the commission process, and the various features of the submitted commission report, the commission had many of the characteristics of a standard Nordic-style public investigation. However, literature on transitional justice has argued that such investigations in the aftermath of extreme terror attacks should preferably be organized along the lines of so-called truth commissions. Based on criteria derived from this literature, the chapter goes on to assess the extent to which the 22 July inquiry had the features of a truth commission. It is concluded that the inquiry, despite its appearance of being “nothing special” qualifies as a rudimentary, but not a full-fledged, truth commission. Finally, the chapter discusses whether the 22 July investigations could and should have taken on more truth commission traits at the time, and the extent to which we need another truth commission now, many years after the 2011 attacks, to properly reconciliate after what remains a national trauma in Norway.
Baghramian, Maria & Holst, Cathrine (2026). Expert advice and institutional trust. In Samarzija, Hana & McKenna, Robin (Ed.), The European Face of Political Epistemology. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783032270481. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Defending expertise. Contemporary Political Theory. ISSN 1470-8914. Full text in Research Archive
Langvatn, Silje Aambø & Holst, Cathrine (2026). Science advice for policy: enhancing the legitimacy of non-epistemic value judgments through proportionality analysis. European Journal for Philosophy of Science. ISSN 1879-4912. 16. doi: 10.1007/s13194-026-00734-z. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Science advice bodies increasingly shape public policy. Yet, their analyses and recommendations routinely involve non-epistemic value judgments that sit uneasily with ideals of democracy and separation of powers. We argue that in liberal constitutional democracies the political legitimacy of such judgments can be enhanced by integrating structured proportionality analysis into the workflow of policy-recommending advisory bodies. This deliberative procedure – first developed by constitutional courts – brings attention to policies’ impact on protected rights and amounts to a multi-pronged scrutiny of the justifiability of a policy which infringe on rights. We show, first, that existing guidelines for science advice bodies nationally and in international organizations implicitly acknowledge non-epistemic judgments but under-specify how to deal with them. Second, recent philosophy of science rightly foregrounds the democratic scrutiny of values (and so representation, alignment, and participation) but underemphasizes rights-based constraints. Our proposal reorients advisory practice toward rights-sensitive, deliberative justification that science advice bodies can apply ex ante—where these bodies often possess superior expertise on relevant aspects such as the suitability and necessity of a policy. Embedding proportionality analysis both mid-stream (to shape option generation) and in public justifications (to enable contestation and deliberation across branches and publics) improves transparency, mitigates overreach, and aligns advice with the rule-of-law and rights commitments of liberal democracies. The final part discusses scope conditions, institutional implications and limitations of our proposal. Structured proportionality analysis does not guarantee optimal outcomes, but supplies a stable, recognized method to discipline non-epistemic judgments and thereby enhance the legitimacy of science-based policy advice.
Krick, Eva; Holst, Cathrine & Christensen, Johan (2025). The governance of policy advice: between scientization and participation. In Howlett, Michael & Fraser, Simon D. (Ed.), Handbook of Policy Advice. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781035318070. p. 246–261. doi: 10.4337/9781035318087.00029. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This study investigates two significant shifts in modern governance: scientization and the participatory turn. Scientization refers to the increased reliance on scientific expertise in policy-making, driven by the growing complexity of policy issues and a demand for evidence-based solutions. Conversely, the participatory turn emphasizes expanding public involvement in governance as a response to legitimacy challenges in representative democracy. By analyzing Norway's ad hoc public advisory committees (Norges offentlige utredninger or NOUs) across diverse policy areas—climate change and family and gender equality policies—this research evaluates trends in both scientization and citizen participation over time. Findings reveal shifts in the makeup and citation patterns of NOUs, indicating a stronger presence of scientific expertise, while also examining evolving openness to public involvement. The study contextualizes these trends within the broader political landscape, exploring their compatibility and implications for legitimacy and effective governance.
Holst, Cathrine & Teigen, Mari (2025). Gender Equality Policies in Norway: From Innovator to Laggard? In Kolltveit, Kristoffer; Allern, Elin Haugsgjerd; Braut-Hegghammer, Målfrid & Rasch, Bjørn Erik (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Norwegian Politics. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198888581. p. 605–620. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198888581.013.0032. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Norway is world-renowned for its progress in gender equality. We start with presenting ‘the state feminist model’, for the long characteristic of gender equality promotion in Norway. We proceed with an analysis of the four main pillars of Norwegian gender equality policy: gender equality legislation, work–life balance policies, gender mainstreaming, and quota measures. We emphasize how policies in recent years have been increasingly shaped by international organizations, focusing on the effects of Norway’s increasing integration into the European Union. The following discussion asks, first, whether or not we could still see Norway as a gender equality forerunner and innovator. Second, we consider the new technocratic features of Norwegian policymaking, including some countertrends. Finally, we address to what extent gender polarization, on the one hand, and the increasing focus on other axes of discrimination and inequality, on the other, constitute fundamental challenges to state feminism and the consensus and integration orientation of Norwegian policymaking.
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Democratizing expertise: the epistemic approach. Social Epistemology. ISSN 0269-1728. 39(6), p. 699–715. doi: 10.1080/02691728.2025.2453937. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The article asks how contemporary expert arrangements should be (re-)designed in the face of calls for their democratization. To address this question, four philosophically grounded, ideal-type institutional proposals regarding the democracy–expertise relationship are introduced, compared, and assessed. The proposals are science in democracy – an approach primarily concerned with safeguarding independent scientific institutions positioned within a larger democratic system; direct democratization – an approach that focuses on expert arrangements more broadly and the need for direct measures of democratization; partisan expertise – an approach which questions the possibility of independent, politically neutral expertise; and citizens as knowers – an approach which questions the need for expert institutions in the first place. In the way they are outlined, all proposals come with significant insights and make some valuable suggestions, and to a certain extent, they are complementary. However, they come with limitations too, and a preferable fifth proposal is sketched – epistemically justified expertise – an approach focused on facilitating democratization measures that can be defended on epistemic grounds. Overall, the article intervenes on a general level to address a set of crucial institutional and philosophical questions regarding democratization of expertise, and across the scholarly divides between epistemology, philosophy of science and political philosophy.
Christensen, Johan; Hesstvedt, Stine; Pronin, Kira; Holst, Cathrine; Christiansen, Peter Munk & Holli, Anne Maria (2025). Experts in Governance: A Comparative Analysis of the Nordic Countries. Policy & Politics. ISSN 0305-5736. doi: 10.1332/03055736Y2025D000000079. Full text in Research Archive
Krick, Eva & Holst, Cathrine (2025). Democratising expertise. In Howlett, Michael & Fraser, Simon D. (Ed.), Handbook of Policy Advice. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781035318070. p. 609–619. doi: 10.4337/9781035318087.00062. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine; Christensen, Johan & Borgen, Solveig Topstad (2025). Gender Representation in Expert Advisory Bodies: Evidence from Norway. Politics & Gender. ISSN 1743-923X. doi: 10.1017/S1743923X2510024X. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Expert institutions are increasingly expected not only to provide the best professional expertise but also to ensure equal presence of women. Yet while descriptive gender representation in bureaucracies and courts is extensively researched, we largely lack studies of women’s presence on expert advisory bodies. Drawing on large-n data on the composition of Norwegian expert advisory commissions, the paper investigates and evaluates how the share of women on these commissions has developed over the last half-century. It finds that while overall gender parity was achieved in recent decades, women remain strongly under-represented among commission chairs, particularly academic chairs, and among academic members from the powerful economics discipline. Normatively speaking, the developments toward parity are promising, and we find no empirical indication that proportional representation and competence requirements are in tension. On the contrary, persistent gender gaps among economists on commissions and academic chairs may endanger adequate provision of expertise into policy-making.
Holst, Cathrine & Teigen, Mari (2024). The “boy problem” in public policy. Politics & Policy. ISSN 1555-5623. doi: 10.1111/polp.12570. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The article investigates how gender differences in school performance are conceptualized in recent Swedish and Norwegian public commission reports against the backdrop of an increasing public focus on “problem boys” and boys' underachievement in school as a policy challenge. We found substantive country differences, despite regime similarities and the considerable level of gender equality norms and policy diffusion within the Nordic region. Whereas Swedish reports address gender differences in school performance and behavior equipped with radical feminist perspectives and theories of patriarchal oppression, Norwegian reports largely avoid explicit references to feminist theory and include analyses of the unfair burdens of boys in school and society. It is argued that the diverging approaches are connected to features of the commissions and of the wider knowledge regimes of the two gender equality forerunners, but also to historical differences in the ideological underpinnings of Swedish and Norwegian gender equality policy making.
Elster, Jakob & Holst, Cathrine (2024). Philosophy, Policy, and Moral Expertise. Res Publica. ISSN 1356-4765. doi: 10.1007/s11158-023-09651-x. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Does the problem of false information change the calculus? Filosofia e questioni pubbliche (FQP). ISSN 1591-0660. doi: 10.17473/2240-7987-2024-2-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This increasingly salient risk of false information has bearings on philosophy too. The focus of the article is on the ongoing philosophical exchange on the idea of ‘democratized’ or of ‘democratizing’ expertise. The article starts out with presenting three philosophically grounded proposals regarding the democracy-expertise relationship: science in democracy – an approach primarily concerned with safeguarding independent scientific institutions positioned within a larger democratic system; direct democratization – an approach that focuses on expert arrangements more broadly and the need for direct measures of democratization; and partisan expertise – an approach which questions the possibility of independent, politically neutral expertise. The next section of the article provides a preliminary assessment of these proposals, before sketching a preferable fourth option: epistemically justified expertise – an approach focused on facilitating democratization measures which can be defended on epistemic grounds. The final section elaborates on the problem of false information and discusses whether the preliminary proposal assessment stands, or should be revised, confronted with this problem. Contrary to what is frequently claimed, it is argued that the problem of false information does not alter the calculus significantly. The problem of false information raises complex causal questions, and urgent questions of policy and regulation. It may also raise philosophical questions, but the specific philosophical discussion of how to (re-)design democracy-expertise relations, seems largely untouched.

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Holst, Cathrine (2026). Tillit til vitenskap i befolkningen. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Positivismestriden i samfunnsvitenskapene. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine & Linnebo, Øystein (2026). Vitenskap i demokratiet - under press? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Etter godhetsregimet. Minerva (Oslo). ISSN 0805-7842. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Perspektiver på en ny Makt- og demokratiutredning. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Hvorfor skal vi stole på ekspertene? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Long problems in legacy institutions. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Democracy and Political Order in Europe’s Emergent Polity. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Det annet kjønn og statsfeminismen. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). I strupen på staten. [Journal]. Dag og Tid. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Gjensyn med Habermas' teknokratikritikk i en tid der folk har fått nok av eksperter. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Elite perceptions and normative legitimacy. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Studentvalget på UiO: Antall lister halvert på ett år. [Journal]. Universitas. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Tillit under press? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Når forskning blir fienden: er forskning udemokratisk? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Intervju om arven etter Habermas. [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Intervju om Habermas. [Journal]. Klassekampen. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Hva er makt? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Er det fortsatt «Hjernevask» sin feil at tilliten til kjønnsforskningen er så lav? [Internet]. Blikk. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Omstillingskommisjonen. [Internet]. Energi og klima. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Technocracy - or epistocracy? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Designing legitimate science advice arrangements. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Forskning om Epstein-avsløringene. [Internet]. forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Verdensmester i likestillingsdebatt? Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT). ISSN 0800-336X. 43(1). doi: 10.18261/nnt.43.1.3. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Kunnskapssosiologi og vitenskapsfilosofi. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). AMO - Center for Accountable Modeling. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). BLAME - tillit til vitenskap. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Gender in expertise: lessons from a gender equality forerunner. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Tillit til vitenskap - og vitenskap som inngir tillit. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Kjønn, forskning og politikk. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). I mangel av fellesskap. Om hyperpolitikk, Hyperpolitikk. Ekstrem politisering uten politiske følger. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202875411. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Politicians - more than representatives: statemanship in Plato between knowledge and command. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Ekspertenes innflytelse. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Forskerens oppgave er ikke å springe etter applausen. [Internet]. KILDEN. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Feminisme og liberalisme. [Journal]. Minervanett. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). The casaul relationship between democracy and science – and its philosophical implications. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Beyond independence: How expert advisory bodies need both academic autonomy and government involvement to be influential. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Forfall og syndefall. Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Verdifrihet og ytringsmot. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Folkepaneler - et demokratisk verktøy i møte med klimakrisen? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Er NOU-utvalgene egnet til å lage god politikk og gode lover? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Science advice for policy: enhancing the legitimacy of non-epistemic value judgments. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Democratizing expertise. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Liberalisme på norsk. Prosa - tidsskrift for skribenter. ISSN 0805-276X. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Samfunnsforskning under press. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Democratic innovation in expertise. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Norsk pensum i fritt fall. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Uncertainty, expert knowledge, and the politics of law. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Expertise, Experts, and Long Problems. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Comments on epistemic injustice. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Fakta har makta: hvorfor eksperimenteres det ikke mer i offentlig sektor? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Governance through index-making. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Ekspertenes inntog. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2025). Vitenskap og tillit. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Ekspertise, politikk, demokrati. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Kanskje er mastergraden slett ikke så syk. [Journal]. Morgenbladet. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Plato’s dreams come true: modern epistocracy. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Norske politikeres lave utdanning. Spiller det egentlig noen rolle? [Internet]. Khrono. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Public trust in science. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Hvor er likestillingen på vei? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Kunnskap og demokrati. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Worries about philosopher experts. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Er og bør i samfunnsforskningen. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Et filosofisk blikk på monarkiet. [Journal]. Salongen. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Mer makt til ekspertene? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Literary citizenship. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Impact of citizen panels. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Academic freedom and democracy. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Democratization of expertise: the epistemic track. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine & Rem, Tore (2024). Uten kunnskap forvitrer demokratiet. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Past the Post: Philosophy of History After Postmodernism. Remarks and Reflections. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Tru og tvil. Dag og Tid. ISSN 0803-334X. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). The influence of experts on public policy. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Jakten på den liberale tradisjon. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). The Nordics' victorious family policies, but stagnant gender equality. Comments to lecture by Honorary Doctor Trond Petersen. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Intervju om tillit i politikken. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Nordisk likestillingspolitikk - kan den eksporteres? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Hvordan utvikle demokratiet? Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Democratic innovations in expert advice. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Er og bør: slik samfunnsforskerne selv ser det. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Tenketankene i norsk offentlighet. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2024). Er medisinere eksperter på helsepolitikk? Ramazzini: norsk tidsskrift for arbeids- og miljømedisin. ISSN 0805-5238. Full text in Research Archive
Holst, Cathrine (2026). Demokratisk impact: Model og forslag til videre undersøgelser. Københavns Universitet. Full text in Research Archive

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Published Jan. 4, 2023 10:23 AM - Last modified May 22, 2026 1:01 PM

Cathrine Holst

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Cathrine Holst

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