Key Speakers:
Ulrike Felt
Sheila Jasanoff
Guenter Schmid
Brian Wynne
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The workshop aims at casting diverse perspectives at the phenomenon of "nanotechnology": which emerging forms of nanotechnology governance can we observe today? How do these new modes of nanotechnology governance compare with the governance of other technologies such as genetic engineering or nuclear power? How does nanotechnology governance differ between regions? In our workshop, we will approach these questions in an interdisciplinary discourse.
The first major theme of the workshop will be the comparison of nanotechnology governance with the governance of other technologies connected with risk. Current approaches towards nanotechnology are embedded in the history of risk technology governance in fields such as genetic engineering and nuclear power. The workshop will explore to which extent parallels can drawn between nanotechnology and other technologies, and what is peculiar to nanotechnology governance? Among other things, this part of the workshop focuses on questions of delimitation and demarcation in technology governance, and the phenomenon of governing under conditions of uncertainty.
The second major theme of the workshop is devoted to the interplay between global and local levels of nanotechnology governance. We will explore how nanotechnology governance differs between regions. We are especially interested in the relationship between trends towards governance uniformity and variation caused by factors such as culture, institutions and historical experience. We will ask which impact such differences might take on emerging form of nanotechnology governance.
The workshop will bring together scholars and students working on political, social, philosophical and cultural aspect of science and technologies as well as researchers from nanotechnology and the life sciences.