Technology Assessment in Practice and Theory

Description

Technological advance affects almost all areas of human life. Rapid digitization, increased mobility, new biotechnologies, and nanotechnology deeply influence, amongst others, industrial production, entertainment, work, military affairs, and individual life. Besides overwhelmingly positive effects on wealth, comfort, innovation, and development, this also raises questions of unintended effects, of tensions with democracy, of the role of citizens, and of its sustainability facing environmental issues. Tools and procedures are needed to cope with this challenging situation. Technology assessment (TA) has been developed more than fifty years ago to enable science, the economy, and society to harvest the potential of new technology to the maximum extent possible and to deal responsibly with possible adverse effects. It was developed more than 50 years ago in the U.S. Congress and has diversified considerably in the meantime. Parliamentary TA in many European states and at the international level, participatory TA at the local and regional levels worldwide, and TA as part of engineering processes are the most relevant fields today. Technology assessment is a growing field of interdisciplinary research and scientific policy advice. This volume (a) gives an overview of motivations of TA, its history and its current practices, (b) develops a fresh theoretical perspective on TA rooted in social theory and philosophy, and (c) draws conclusions from the theoretical perspective for the further development of TA’s practices. It provides the first comprehensive view on the growing field of TA at the international level. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables List of boxes List of abbreviations Foreword 1. Guide to the book 1.1 Motivation and objectives 1.2 Preliminary understanding of TA 1.3 Theory in the making 1.4 The way from practice to theory 1.5 The chapters 2. Motivations for technology assessment 2.1 Increasing influence of science and technology 2.2 The ambivalence of technology: innovation and risk 2.2.1 Classifying the consequences of technology 2.2.2 Innovation 2.2.3 Unintended effects 2.2.4 Risk society 2.3 Technology conflicts 2.4 Technocracy 2.5 Sustainable development 2.6 Techno-visionary communication 2.7 Science/society interface 3. Technology assessment in action 3.1 Brief history 3.1.1 Predecessors of technology assessment 3.1.2 Technology assessment in the U.S. Congress 3.1.3 Spread and diversification 3.1.4 Technology assessment today 3.1.5 The trinity of TA 3.2 Technology assessment as policy advice 3.2.1 Parliamentary technology assessment 3.2.2 Advice to governments and authorities 3.2.3 Global assessments 3.2.4 Main challenges: independence and impartiality 3.3 Technology assessment and public dialogue 3.3.1 Participatory technology assessment 3.3.2 Main challenge: legitimization 3.4 Technology assessment in the making of technology 3.4.1 Constructive technology assessment (CTA) 3.4.2 Prospective systems analysis 3.4.3 Value-oriented technology development 3.4.4 Main challenge: balancing involvement and distance 3.5 Neighbors and relatives of technology assessment 4. Theory I: The assessment process 4.1 Cognitive interest of TA: enhancing reflexivity 4.1.1 A model of technology assessment 4.1.2 Conceptual dimensions: anticipation, inclusion, and complexity 4.1.3 Implications 4.1.4 Defining technology assessment 4.2 Ontology of TA: the objects of assessment 4.2.1 Technology 4.2.2 Consequences of technology and the issue of causality 4.2.3 Societal meaning 4.3 Micro-epistemology: knowledge for TA 4.3.1 Classification of TA knowledge 4.3.2 Prospective knowledge 4.3.2.1 Epistemological view on anticipation 4.3.2.2 Modes of consequentialist orientation 4.3.3 Hermeneutic knowledge 4.3.3.1 Narratives of the future 4.3.3.2 Definitions and characterizations 4.4 Macro-epistemology: the assessment 4.4.1 What is assessment? 4.4.2 Socio-epistemic requirements 4.4.3 Key elements of the assessment process 4.4.3.1 Setting the stage 4.4.3.2 Contextualization 4.4.3.3 Integration 4.4.3.4 Evaluation 4.4.3.5 Orientation 4.4.4 Social Epistemology of TA: an outlook 4.4.4.1 Social Epistemology 4.4.4.2 The structure of TA expertise 4.5 Relations with TA’s conceptual history 5. Theory II: Technology assessment in society 5.1 Technology assessment in social theory 5.1.1 Pragmatism 5.1.2 Modernizing modernity 5.2 Technology assessment in technology governance 5.2.1 Technology determinism 5.2.2 Social constructivism and co-evolution 5.2.3 Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) 5.3 Role concepts of technology assessment 5.3.1 Landscape of role concepts 5.3.2 TA as honest broker 5.4 The transformative power of TA 6. Back to TA practice: Lessons learned 6.1 What has been achieved by theorizing TA? 6.2 Designing TA projects 6.3 Reflection on TA methodology 6.3.1 TA methods: more than a toolkit 6.3.2 Living with the Control Dilemma 6.3.3 Dealing with complexity 6.3.4 Towards a TA methodology 6.4 From alternative options to real-world impact 6.4.1 The responsibility of TA for achieving impact 6.4.2 Quality criteria of TA: balancing excellence and relevance 6.4.3 Professional ethics of TA 6.5 Extending TA’s scope: developing countries 6.6 Teaching technology assessment 6.7 Final remarks 7. Perspectives 7.1 The TA road ahead: opportunities and challenges 7.1.1 Future TA themes 7.1.2 Challenges arising from TA’s environment 7.2 Towards a global technology assessment 7.3 Technology assessment – more than technology assessment? References Index