For good or ill, technology mediates our relationships with one another and with nature. Whether an ox-drawn plough in the hands of a peasant, or remote sensing equipment feeding back data from a satellite, technology informs and shapes our place in our environments. It is therefore unsurprising that technological development occupies a central position in debates about governance for sustainability. Yet a curious tension exists in the literature on the governance of sustainable technologies; one that this paper will highlight and discuss. On the one hand, analysts recognise technology development as a highly social activity (thus opening possibilities for deliberate steering). On the other hand, policy debates treat steering itself as relatively asocial, (thus understating the roles and potentials for negotiation, deliberation and participation). In this paper we consider how this tension relates to the conceptual positioning of governance in relation to technology - whether 'inside' or 'outside', 'open' or 'closed' - and draw practical implications for steering.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Sussex, SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research in its series SPRU Electronic Working Paper Series with number
148.