“ Green is the color of my true love´s dreams: How civil society actors (could) gain (and lose) agency by refiguring Gre

1. “Green is the color of my true love´s dreams: How civil society actors (could) gain (and lose) agency by refiguring Green Nanotechnology Stories” Paper presented at the 8th International Conference in Interpretive Policy Analysis Societies in Conflict: Experts, Publics and Democracy, IPA2013, 3-5 July, Panel 65_Top Leaders or Toy Soldiers? Reconsidering Discursive Agency in Policy Research Willy Viehöver University of Augsburg (Ger)

2. Whattheacademicstoryisabout … • I. Narrative Governanceand Agency: Narratives andnarrativization • II. The case: Speaking Nanotechnogies „green“ in thegovernanceofknowledgeproduction • III. Meaningsof narrative „form“ and narrative „strategies“ forshapingagency • IV. Preliminaryfindings: challengingthehegemonyofthegreennanotechnology`reference´narrative

3. I. On Narratives andNarrativization • Human beings have ever been and still are story telling animals. The Narrative is a discursive meta-code transhistorical, transnational and transcultural in character (Barthes) • I will treat storytelling as a fundamental structured and structurating “way of worldmaking” (Goodman), leaving however spaces for creative imagination wide open (Ricoeur). • We are governed by narratives, but try hard to govern narratives too (Ricoeur, Booth, Miller) • This is a rather complex play between author, texts (images, speech, symb. objects) and the reader

4. II. The Case • Is there such thing as a discursive or narrative governance of knowledge production in the field of emerging nanotechnologies going on? • Narrative structures are not only of major importance in structuring discourse but in shaping agency of the core actors involved

5. III. ThreeissuesI´mgoingtotouch … • (a) Plot andemplotment (i.e. configuringplots, actants, charactersandaction • (b) Actants , charactersandactionandinterrelations • (c) Some narratives devicesandstrategies: Duration, frequency, voiceandvision (focalization)

6. a.) Plot andemplotment (Plot is a configuredsynthesisoftheheterogenousevents, existentsandcharacters; Ricoeur) • `WE´RE STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS´ … • (example 3) “Two roads lie before the nanotechnology community: business as usual and green nanotechnology. Business as usual may or may not be sustainable and friendly to the environment, yet it is the more heavily traveled road. Green nanotechnology is currently the road less traveled by, but taking that road could make all the difference to the sustainability and long-term success of this exciting new technology. Will we follow a green road less traveled by and make all the difference?” (Karn 2008: 263) • … `AND MIGHT COME OUT WITH A TECHNOLOGY WASHED GREEN´

7. `LET´S GO GREY AGAIN´: CSOs attemptstorefigurethegreennano narrative • (example 5) “In a worldincreasinglyconcernedaboutclimatechange, resourcedepletion, pollutionandwatershortages, nanotechnologyhasbeenmuchheraldedas a new environmental saviour. Proponentshaveclaimedthatnanotechnology will deliverenergytechnologiesthatareefficient, inexpensiveandenvironmentallysound. Theypredictthathighlyprecisenanomanufacturingandtheuseofsmallerquantitiesof potent nanomaterials will break thetiebetweeneconomicactivityandresourceuse. In short, itisarguedthatnanotechnology will enableongoingeconomicgrowthandtheexpansionofconsumercultureat a vastlyreduced environmental cost./In thisreport, forthefirst time, Friendsofthe Earth putsthe ‘green’ claimsofindustry [Actant: human/systemic : villain/opponent] underthemicroscope. Ourinvestigationrevealsthatthenanotechnologyindustryhasover-promisedandunder-delivered. Manyoftheclaimsmaderegardingnanotechnology’s environmental performance, andbreakthroughstoutedbycompaniesclaimingtobenearmarket, are not matchedbyreality. Worse, theenergyand environmental costsofthegrowingnanoindustryarefarhigherthanexpected.” (Friendsofthe Earth 2010: 5)

8. b) Actants, characters, actionsandinterrelation • Where do we look at? Look at actant roles (e.g. sender, receiver, subject (hero), object, helper, villain + actions, modalities (knowing, not knowing (knowledge); must /not must be able/not being able (capacity), wanting/not wanting (motivation, desire) e.g. States, features and actions of actants and participants) • (example 9) “Scientists [actant: active – emotional state ?] are excited by the revolutionary nature of nanotechnology. They have discovered that materials do not retain the same properties if you chop them into nano-sized pieces—a paradigm shift that opens up new ways of thinking about matter. Engineers [actant: ] are equally intrigued by the possibility of tuning properties merely by changing the size of a material. Industries see an enabling technology that can be applied in all manufacturing sectors. Every discipline and profession wants a piece of the action. / Nanotechnology is becoming much Nanotechnology is becoming much more complex, no longer only using “dumb” nanoscale materials in passive matrices but also using nanomaterials with multiple functions and multiple properties. These materials are not amenable to simple, standard analytical methods, and substances must be measured, or their risks cannot be controlled. Risk must not be ignored. As the excitement about nanotechnology mounts, voices advocating forethought about environmental, health, and safety (EHS) issues grow louder and stronger, because many people [actant : patient] feel that these issues are not yet getting the attention they deserve. These voices belong to diverse organizations: environmental advocacy groups, multiple government agencies, standards organizations, scientific as well as engineering and health-related professional societies, universities, trade associations, and industries large and small [actants: opponents].” (Karn 2008)

9. c) Narrative devices • Telling a narrative takes time, but it also `narrates´ time, a single day might take a book as you will know and so do nano reports: • Duration: space and (reading) time dedicated to themes, topics, characters etc. • Frequency: times events, existents, characters and actants mentioned (repetition and narrated repetition) • Voice: (first and third person narrators), • Focalisation: who sees from were (perspective from within/without, part of the story plot or, narrator takes over single characters view (CSO, industry rep. etc.)

10. IV. Preliminaryfindings • 1 Standing atthecrossroads: The techno-optimistic Green Nano narrative hasbecomethe dominant wayofframingGreen Nanotechnologies. Thisoptimisticplot (promisestoreconcileeconomicgrowthandenviromentalprotection etc.) hasbecomethereferencestorytowhich all otheractorsinvolvedneedtoreferto … • 2 The dominant Green Nano storyis, however, in searchof a CSO narrator: Refiguringthe Green Nano Story (BUND, EEB, Friendsofthe Earth, ETC Group) • 3 A particularcase: Policystakeholderdialogues (e.g. the Nano Commission): How CSOs voicesgotandget lost in translation • 4 Is there a way out? Wecanlearnfromliteratureagain! Let´sfollowBakhtin´slessonandsafeguardthepolyphonyofvoices in discourseandgivereadersanotherchance …