Hubris and Hybrids: On the Cultural Assessment of Nanotechnology

1. Hubris and Hybrids:On the Cultural Assessment of Nanotechnology Andrew Jamison

2. An Essential Tension hubris: ”impious disregard of the limits governing human action in an orderly universe” hybrids: ”offspring of parents that differ in genetically determined traits”

3. Hubris and Hybrids in S&T atomic energy appropriate technology IT, biotech sustainability entrepreneurship public participation foresight cultural assessment technoscience green knowledge

4. What is nano? • as hubris • an example of technoscience • a creation of entrepreneurship • as hybrids • a dimension of green knowledge • in need of public participation

5. Dealing with the Tension • educating phronesis, or moral judgment • telling stories of appropriation • focusing on contexts of use • providing a cultural assessment of S&T • making STS matter

6. Cultural Appropriation • At a discursive, or macro level • structural and cognitive transformations • At an organizational, or meso level • processes of institutionalization • At a personal, or micro level • practices of habituation and use

7. Discursive Appropriations • Protestantism and the mechanical philosophy • Positivism, marxism, evolutionary theory • ”Science – The Endless Frontier” • The knowledge economy vs sustainability

8. Organizational Appropriations From movements.... to institutions The ReformationModern Science The Enlightenment Democracy Socialism Welfare State ”Computer Lib” The Internet Environmentalism Green Knowledge

9. The Age of Technoscience • blurring discursive boundaries • between science (epistem) and technology (techne) • breaking down institutional borders • between public and private, economic and academic • mixing skills and knowledge • across faculties, disciplines, and societal domains

10. From Science to Technoscience • change in range and scope • market orientation, global reach • university-industry collaboration • ”epistemic drift” (Elzinga) • the state as strategist: “picking the winners”

11. From Science to Research • from doing experiments to doing business • product-oriented, or commercial research • from providing expertise to governing • project-oriented, or governance research • from enlightening to empowering • problem-oriented, or advocacy research

12. Contending Discourses • commercial research: hubris goes to market - globalization, competitiveness, innovation • governance research: controlling hubris - welfare, employment, equality, construction • advocacy research: the hybrid imagination • global justice, scientific citizenship, sustainability

13. Contending Institutions • commercial research - innovation networks, patent systems, markets • governance research - state agencies, regulations, policies, laws • advocacy research - civic organizations, public education, assessment

14. Contending Identities • commercial research - academic entrepeneurs, market researchers • governance research - expert consultants, policy researchers • advocacy research - activist academics, action researchers

15. Cultural Assessment of S&T • challenging the hype and the myths: reflection • and giving voice to the critics • building bridges, making spaces: mediation • between cultures and subcultures • doing change-oriented research: engagement • studying cultural appropriation in action

16. Cultural Assesment of Nanotechnology • public debate and dialogue • challenging the hype, qualifying the hope • telling stories of appropriation and alternatives • educational initiatives and reform • transcending faculty and disciplinary boundaries • giving contextual courses, fostering public educators • practical activities • public information programs and local experiments • interactive media and communication techniques

17. The Hybrid Imagination • At the discursive level: ”green nano” • connecting problems and solutions • At the institutional level • creating contexts of mediation • At the practical/personal level • project and problem-based learning