Technology Governance in the Information Age. The Case of Pharmaceuticals and the Internet

In a civil society, the governance of technology is a matter of law and regulation, but also of responsibility and accountability, within which issues of public safety and security must be balanced against individual and collective rights. Within sociology, studies have not fully examined the complexity of how governance is achieved, and how environmental changes may threaten governance systems. Drawing on Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony as an outcome of consent among dominant and subordinate interests, and Rosenau's (1995, 1997) analyses of global governance in terms of sources of authority and systems of rule, this paper explores the negotiated character of technology governance in a case study of consumerism and the pharmaceutical industry. This industry is one of the most highly regulated in the world, but in the information age, traditional patterns of governance are challenged, and new strategic alliances may emerge as significant players in governing the industry. The paper uses ethnographic and documentary data to explore the emergent governance processes, and concludes that governance is a dynamic process, forever breaking down and being re-invented to address societal changes. We suggest that this theoretical frame work and methodology can form the basis for a productive sociology of governance.