Democratizing nanotech, then and now.
نویسنده
چکیده
In October 2006, in the first issue of this journal, I described the idea of ‘democratizing science’ — a state of affairs in which non-experts have active and constructive roles in science policy decisions1. At that time, there were expectations that nanotechnology would be a laboratory for experimenting with the idea of democratizing science. From this came an impressive battery of focus groups, citizen juries, consensus conferences, largescale surveys and other instruments, both in the US and the UK. If democratizing science is going to happen, and especially if it is going to become standard practice in the formulation of science policy, then it needs to navigate a course between two undesirable options. First, we do not want science policy determined by political values that disregard scientific knowledge. In the dreadful case of Lysenkoism, for example, Soviet agricultural policy was based on crazy biological theories modelled on Stalinist ideology, with disastrous results for food production. Second, we want to avoid forcing science policy on a population that resents it, even if the policy is grounded in good scientific knowledge. Some places in the US and elsewhere have laws that require childhood vaccines for the human papilloma virus (HPV) on the grounds that this reduces the likelihood of getting cervical cancer or genital warts. However, in many cases parents can exempt their daughters from the vaccine if it conflicts with the family’s religious values. This way, a democratic society makes science policy through democratic processes, but its conscience-based exemptions enable families to disagree with that policy. This is an eye of a needle that is difficult to thread: avoid decisions based on pseudoscience, but also avoid decisions that come from undemocratic processes2. Where are we now, five years later?
منابع مشابه
A CMOS HDR Imager with an Analog Local Adaptation
Gilles SICARD, Hassan ABBAS, Hawraa AMHAZ, Hakim ZIMOUCHE, Robin ROLLAND, David ALLEYSSON (1) CNRS, G-INP, UJF, TIMA Laboratory (2) CIME-Nanotech, (3) CNRS, UPMF, LPNC Laboratory (1) Laboratoire TIMA, 46, Avenue Félix Viallet, 38031 Grenoble, France (2) CIME-Nanotech, 3 parvis Louis Néel, BP 257 38016 Grenoble, France (3) Laboratoire LPNC, Université Pierre Mendes France, BP 47, 38040 Grenoble,...
متن کاملA Critical Analysis of the Relations between Organized Civil Society and Democratizing of Global Governance
In this paper, the author will discuss two popular terms, i.e. organized civil society and global governance and their relations. The paper is mainly about organized civil society (international non-governmental organizations) and democracy in global governance. First, the author will provide a few related definitions. These terms, although are highly contested, need to be identified to avoid c...
متن کاملMaking sense of policy choices: understanding the roles of value predispositions, mass media, and cognitive processing in public attitudes toward nanotechnology
Using a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,015 adults in the United States, this study examines how value predispositions, communication variables, and perceptions of risks and benefits are associated with public support for federal funding of nanotechnology. Our findings show that highly religious individuals were less supportive of funding of nanotech than less religious individu...
متن کاملConstitutionalism and Change: Representation, Governance, and Participation in the New Northern Ireland
This Essay assesses the achievement of restoring representative government and also considers whether this is enough given the changes that have occurred since last there was devolved government in Northern Ireland. Finally, it examines those aspects of the Agreement that can be developed in line with a view that the constitution should now be seen much less as a structure of rule than a framew...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Nature nanotechnology
دوره 6 10 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2011