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The environmental movement has often contested and reshaped scientific knowledge to achieve its goals. However theorists have yet to account for this social movement tactic. This research uses a case study of the anti-dam movement in Brazil, with particular reference to three instances of anti-dam activism across the country, to delineate how scientization of the state motivates environmental movements to contest science. It uses Jurgen Habermas's theory of communicative action to explicate how instrumental and communicative claims are deliberated on in collaborations between activists and researchers, resulting in new scientific conceptualizations. These results are then translated to the public through innovative movement frames. This research helps situate communicative action as a social movement strategy important in a global knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]