IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v126y2016icp139-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A framework of attitudes towards technology in theory and practice

Author

Listed:
  • Kerschner, Christian
  • Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich

Abstract

A trend analysis of Eurobarometer data shows that attitudes towards science and technology are diversifying in the EU, with enthusiasm clearly losing out to more ambivalent stances. In the past any diversion from unquestioned optimism was interpreted as a bad sign and attributed to the public's ignorance. Today it is often welcomed as a sign of an increasingly emancipated public. In the sustainability sciences, including Ecological Economics, attitudes towards technology also cover a wide spectrum, the formalisation and exploration of which are the goals of this paper. Drawing on social and philosophical studies of technology and insights from Ecological Economics and related fields, we develop a framework of attitudes towards technology consisting of four main categories: Enthusiasm, Determinism, Romanticism and Scepticism. We illustrate the empirical relevance of our framework with a qualitative content analysis of Ecological Economics lecture material. The analysis uncovered and mapped a diversity of views, which co-exist without an open debate. It suggests difficulties of scholars to consistently articulate their techno-attitudes, except for enthusiasm. Our framework could help to amplify underlying vocabularies and visions of research and teaching in Ecological Economics and beyond. It could be applied in both deeper qualitative and broader quantitative analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerschner, Christian & Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich, 2016. "A framework of attitudes towards technology in theory and practice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 139-151.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:126:y:2016:i:c:p:139-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.02.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916302129
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.02.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lessard, Chantale, 2007. "Complexity and reflexivity: Two important issues for economic evaluation in health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 1754-1765, April.
    2. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    3. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-131, March.
    4. Ayres, Robert U., 2007. "On the practical limits to substitution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 115-128, February.
    5. Commission on Growth and Development, 2008. "The Growth Report : Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6507, December.
    6. Robert M. Solow, 1974. "The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 12, pages 257-276, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    8. Norgaard, Richard B., 1981. "Sociosystem and ecosystem coevolution in the amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 238-254, September.
    9. Hulme,Mike, 2009. "Why We Disagree about Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521727327.
    10. Funtowicz, Silvio O. & Ravetz, Jerome R., 1994. "The worth of a songbird: ecological economics as a post-normal science," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 197-207, August.
    11. Ricardo, David, 1821. "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, edition 3, number ricardo1821.
    12. Abdelillah Hamdouch & Marc-Hubert Depret, 2010. "Policy integration strategy and the development of the 'green economy': foundations and implementation patterns," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 473-490.
    13. Daly, Herman E., 1992. "Is the entropy law relevant to the economics of natural resource scarcity?-- yes, of course it is!," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 91-95, July.
    14. Malthus, Thomas Robert, 1798. "An Essay on the Principle of Population," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number malthus1798.
    15. Andy Stirling, 2007. "Deliberate futures: precaution and progress in social choice of sustainable technology," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(5), pages 286-295.
    16. Binswanger, Mathias, 2001. "Technological progress and sustainable development: what about the rebound effect?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 119-132, January.
    17. William D. Nordhaus, 1973. "The Allocation of Energy Resources," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 4(3), pages 529-576.
    18. André Reichel, 2011. "Technology as system: towards an autopoietic theory of technology," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(2/3), pages 105-118.
    19. R. M. Solow, 1974. "Intergenerational Equity and Exhaustible Resources," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(5), pages 29-45.
    20. Ayres, Robert U., 2008. "Sustainability economics: Where do we stand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 281-310, September.
    21. Costanza, Robert, 1989. "What is ecological economics?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 1-7, February.
    22. Joseph Stiglitz, 1974. "Growth with Exhaustible Natural Resources: Efficient and Optimal Growth Paths," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(5), pages 123-137.
    23. Partha Dasgupta & Geoffrey Heal, 1974. "The Optimal Depletion of Exhaustible Resources," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(5), pages 3-28.
    24. Hulme,Mike, 2009. "Why We Disagree about Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521898690.
    25. Geoffrey Hodgson, 2004. "Darwinism, causality and the social sciences," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 175-194.
    26. Joerges, Bernward, 1999. "Do Politics have Artefacts," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 411-431.
    27. Philip Faulkner & Clive Lawson & Jochen Runde, 2010. "Theorising technology," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(1), pages 1-16, January.
    28. Evans, William N & Graham, John D, 1991. "Risk Reduction or Risk Compensation? The Case of Mandatory Safety-Belt Use Laws," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 61-73, January.
    29. Alcott, Blake, 2005. "Jevons' paradox," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 9-21, July.
    30. Tomoo Machiba, 2010. "Eco-innovation for enabling resource efficiency and green growth: development of an analytical framework and preliminary analysis of industry and policy practices," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 357-370, August.
    31. Williams, Robin & Edge, David, 1996. "The social shaping of technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 865-899, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Szalavetz, Andrea, 2018. "Digitális átalakulás és fenntarthatóság. A technológiaoptimista környezetgazdászok és a pesszimista ökológiai közgazdászok közötti vita újraindítása [Digital transformation and environmental sustai," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 1067-1088.
    2. Ljubi, Klara & Groznik, Aleš, 2023. "Role played by social factors and privacy concerns in autonomous vehicle adoption," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-15.
    3. Giacomo Degli Antoni & Chiara Franco, 2022. "The effect of technological behaviour and beliefs on subjective well-being: the role of technological infrastructure," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 553-590, April.
    4. Kaitlin Kish, 2020. "Paying Attention: Big Data and Social Advertising as Barriers to Ecological Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Parakram Pyakurel, 2021. "Green growth or degrowth? Evaluating the potential of technology for sustainability," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(1), pages 21-36.
    6. Nora Geirsdotter Bækkelund, 2022. "Fields of change? Actors, institutions and social fields in the green restructuring of the Flåm tourism industry," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 848-867, June.
    7. Cristina Davino & Vincenzo Esposito Vinzi & Estefania Santacreu-Vasut & Radu Vranceanu, 2019. "An Attitude Model of Environmental Action: Evidence from Developing and Developed Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 811-838, June.
    8. Bauwens, Thomas & Hekkert, Marko & Kirchherr, Julian, 2020. "Circular futures: What Will They Look Like?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    9. Heikkurinen, Pasi & Ruuska, Toni & Wilén, Kristoffer & Ulvila, Marko, 2019. "The Anthropocene exit: Reconciling discursive tensions on the new geological epoch," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Sára Imola Csuka & Tamás Martos & Mihály Kapornaky & Viola Sallay & Christopher Alan Lewis, 2019. "Attitudes Toward Technologies of the Near Future: The Role of Technology Readiness in a Hungarian Adult Sample," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(06), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Hancock, Linda & Ralph, Natalie, 2021. "A framework for assessing fossil fuel ‘retrofit’ hydrogen exports: Security-justice implications of Australia’s coal-generated hydrogen exports to Japan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    12. Davino, Cristina & Esposito Vinzi, Vincenzo & Santacreu-Vasut, Estefania & Vrancanu, Radu, 2017. "An attitude model of environmental action : evidence from developing and developed countries," ESSEC Working Papers WP1703, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ayres, Robert U., 2008. "Sustainability economics: Where do we stand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 281-310, September.
    2. Adrian Boos, 2015. "Genuine Savings as an Indicator for “Weak” Sustainability: Critical Survey and Possible Ways forward in Practical Measuring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-37, April.
    3. Daniele Schilirò, 2019. "Sustainability, Innovation, and Efficiency: A Key Relationship," Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance, in: Magdalena Ziolo & Bruno S. Sergi (ed.), Financing Sustainable Development, chapter 0, pages 83-102, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Dorothée Charlier & Florian Fizaine, 2020. "Does Becoming Richer Lead to a Reduction in Natural Resource Consumption? An Empirical Refutation of the Kuznets Material Curve," Working Papers 2020.05, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    5. Growiec, Jakub & Schumacher, Ingmar, 2008. "On technical change in the elasticities of resource inputs," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 210-221, December.
    6. Garmendia, E. & Prellezo, R. & Murillas, A. & Escapa, M. & Gallastegui, M., 2010. "Weak and strong sustainability assessment in fisheries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 96-106, November.
    7. Jeffrey A. Krautkraemer, 1998. "Nonrenewable Resource Scarcity," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 2065-2107, December.
    8. Fatih Karanfil & Bilge Ozturk, 2007. "Energy Saving Technical Progress: How About The Solow Model?," Energy and Environmental Modeling 2007 24000020, EcoMod.
    9. Drupp, Moritz A. & Baumgärtner, Stefan & Meyer, Moritz & Quaas, Martin F. & von Wehrden, Henrik, 2020. "Between Ostrom and Nordhaus: The research landscape of sustainability economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    10. Alberto Quadrio Curzio & Fausta Pellizzari & Roberto Zoboli, 2011. "Resources and Technologies," CRANEC - Working Papers del Centro di Ricerche in Analisi economica e sviluppo economico internazionale crn1101, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Centro di Ricerche in Analisi economica e sviluppo economico internazionale (CRANEC).
    11. Mircea Sˇveanu, 2014. "Energy and the Economics of Sustainability. The Entropy Paradox," Management of Sustainable Development, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 1-5, August.
    12. Mircea Saveanu, 2014. "Sustainability as a Resource Distribution Constraint," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 10(2), pages 139-151, April.
    13. Sjak Smulders & Michael Toman & Cees Withagen, 2014. "Growth Theory and “Green Growthâ€," OxCarre Working Papers 135, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.
    14. Stefan baumgärtner, 2004. "The Inada Conditions for Material Resource Inputs Reconsidered," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 29(3), pages 307-322, November.
    15. Pierre-André Jouvet & Christian de Perthuis, 2017. "La croissance verte : de l’intention à la mise en oeuvre," Working Papers hal-01504973, HAL.
    16. van Geldrop, Jan & Withagen, Cees, 2000. "Natural capital and sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 445-455, March.
    17. Uehara, Takuro, 2013. "Ecological threshold and ecological economic threshold: Implications from an ecological economic model with adaptation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 374-384.
    18. Florian Fizaine, 2021. "La croissance verte est-elle durable et compatible avec l’économie circulaire ? Une approche par l’identité IPAT," Post-Print hal-03884377, HAL.
    19. Maciej Malaczewski, 2018. "Natural Resources As An Energy Source In A Simple Economic Growth Model," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 362-380, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:126:y:2016:i:c:p:139-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.