Abstract
Nanotechnology is an emerging technology
particularly vulnerable to societal unrest, which
may hinder its further development. With the
increasing convergence of several technological
domains in the field of nanotechnology, so too could
convergence of social science methods help to
anticipate societal response. This paper systematically
reviews the current state of convergence in
societal response research by first sketching the
predominant approaches to previous new technologies,
followed by an analysis of current research into
societal response to nanotechnology. A set of 107
papers on previous new technologies shows that
rational actor models have played an important role
in the study of societal response to technology, in
particular in the field of information technology and
the geographic region of Asia. Biotechnology and
nuclear power have, in contrast, more often been
investigated through risk perception and other
affective determinants, particularly in Europe and
the USA. A set of 42 papers on societal response to
nanotechnology shows similarities to research in
biotechnology, as it also builds on affective variables
such as risk perception. Although there is a tendency
to extend the rational models with affective variables,
convergence in social science approaches to response
to new technologies still has a long way to go. The
challenge for researchers of societal response to
technologies is to converge to some shared principles
by taking up the best parts from the rational actor
models dominant in information technology, whilst
integrating non-rational constructs from biotechnology
research. The introduction of nanotechnology
gives a unique opportunity to do so.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4399-4410 |
Journal | Journal of Nanoparticle Research : an Interdisciplinary Forum for Nanoscale Science and Technology |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- emerging technologies
- oversight assessment
- public perception
- risk perception
- acceptance
- model
- trust
- future
- governance
- engagement