Eurograd message

                Dear colleagues!
<br>
<br>We invite papers for a special issue in the journal “NanoEthics: Studies of
<br>New and Emerging Technologies”.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>After the hype is before the hype – from bio to nano to AI: What can we
<br>learn from public engagement in nanosciences and nanotechnologies?
<br>
<br>Since the early 2000’s, Nanosciences and nanotechnologies (NST) have been
<br>massively promoted in many parts of the world. Two things were striking about
<br>these policies: first, the hype surrounding NST; second, the prominence of
<br>public engagement—citizen dialogue, deliberation and participation—in NST
<br>discourse and policy. Nanotechnology became a laboratory for the programmatic
<br>and practical development of a range of forms of public engagement such as
<br>“upstream” and “midstream engagement”, or policy approaches that
<br>prominently integrate public engagement such as “anticipatory governance”,
<br>“real-time technology assessment”, or “responsible research and
<br>innovation”.
<br>
<br>From bio to nano: A major reason for this noticeable rise of public engagement
<br>in NST are the food scandals and technology controversies in the late
<br>1990’s, in particular the controversy over genetically modified organisms
<br>(GMOs). These controversies came to be seen as the result of elites’
<br>reductionist and arrogant approach to the public. To avoid a similar public
<br>backlash against NST authorities and decision-makers in science and politics
<br>should open doors for public engagement and humble dialogue. Obviously, the
<br>public crisis around GMOs had triggered a learning process.
<br>
<br>From nano to AI: Today, the hype surrounding NST has waned and so have
<br>concerns that nanotechnology might fall prey to a public backlash. Nothing
<br>comparable to the public backlash against GMOs ever happened to Nano. In fact,
<br>NST hardly became controversial. Meanwhile, new technology hypes pervade the
<br>public discourse. Synthetic biology, genetic editing or Artificial
<br>Intelligence (AI) are recent examples. In each case, we observe parallels to
<br>the discourses on public engagement in NST. In the case of AI, for example,
<br>prominent researchers and think tanks warn against a public backlash if policy
<br>makers and funders fail to foster public support through public engagement.
<br>
<br>From bio to nano to AI: We suggest that social learning processes intertwined
<br>with technology hypes pervade these and other arenas of technology governance.
<br>While the GM controversy had a visible (albeit not yet fully understood)
<br>effect on the NST field, today, we ask which lessons can be drawn – and have
<br>been drawn by science policy actors – from the NST field? Where do we stand
<br>today after 20 years of public engagement in nanotechnology and other emerging
<br>technologies, and what is there to learn for the “new governance” of most
<br>recently hyped technologies such as AI?
<br>
<br>
<br>Possible topics include:
<br>
<br>Societal effects and social learnings of Public Engagement (PE)
<br>
<br>-       How can we conceptualize the social learning processes which seem to
<br>manifest in technology governance over the past twenty years? Have new
<br>patterns of interpretation been established regarding the nature of a
<br>successful or failed technology governance? If so, how can they be described
<br>and distinguished from the “old” patterns of interpretation?
<br>
<br>-       Does the fact that NST mostly remained uncontroversial mean that the
<br>early emphasis on public engagement in the NST field made it more “socially
<br>robust”, “democratic” and “reflexive”? Have the right “lessons”
<br>been drawn (from the past for the future)?
<br>
<br>-       Why and how does the trend toward public engagement manifest itself in
<br>different national political cultures? How did certain public engagement
<br>formats travel across national borders in the NST policy field?
<br>
<br>PE between hype and reflexivity
<br>
<br>-       What happens after the hype? With enthusiastic/dystopian discourse
<br>subsiding, do public engagement activities also vane? What happened to the
<br>engagement hype and to ambitious policy metaphors such as “upstream
<br>engagement”? Have they been forgotten? Will they reappear, or be reinvented,
<br>with the next big techno hype?
<br>
<br>-       For the social sciences nanotechnology has provided an opportunity to
<br>step up research and policy intervention. How can the role/agency of the
<br>social sciences in public engagement processes be conceptualized? In which way
<br>has this role changed in the past 20 years? Which role conflicts or normative
<br>dilemmas arise from it?
<br>
<br>PE between strategic and transformative uses
<br>
<br>-       Did public engagement (ever) make a difference in the governance of
<br>NST or other emerging technologies? How have public engagement initiatives
<br>been integrated (or ignored) in the governance of NST and other emerging
<br>technologies?
<br>
<br>-       Has public engagement had identifiable impacts on policies or
<br>institutions related to NST or other fields of technoscientific discourse and
<br>policy? Did public engagement have the effect of problematizing, shifting or
<br>even reshaping epistemic and political demarcation lines between the public,
<br>scientific expertise and policy subsystems? What can we expect for the
<br>future?
<br>
<br>
<br>Several formats are available. We specifically invite original research
<br>papers. In addition, contributions can come in the form of shorter discussion
<br>notes, communications and responses, letters, art-science interactions,
<br>interviews or anecdotes, and book reviews.
<br>
<br>
<br>Schedule
<br>
<br>Proposals: May 5th 2019
<br>
<br>First Draft: August 31st 2019
<br>
<br>Final draft: January 31st 2020
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>Please, send proposals to both Franz Seifert (fseifert@gmx.at
<br>) and Camilo Fautz (c.fautz@mailbox.org
<br>)
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