Hornig Priest Nanotechnology and the Public

Risk Perception and Risk Communication
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4398-2684-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 202 Seiten

Reihe: Perspectives in Nanotechnology

From nuclear power to gene therapy to the automobile, history shows that it is useful to encourage and facilitate public discussion about new technologies and their potential dangers. Part of the series Perspectives in Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology and the Public: Risk Perception and Risk Communication assesses results from focus groups, interviews, and other resources to provide a more nuanced understanding of how non-experts perceive nanotechnology and what they expect from it.

Includes a series of special essays by social scientists and humanities scholars who have studied nanotechnology and society from different perspectives

Assessing how "ordinary" people form opinions about new technologies and their adoption, this book addresses the role of media messages and pre-existing values in this process, as well as how risks can become either amplified or weakened along the way as a result of social mechanisms. Using solid theory and research to back presented concepts on risk perception and communication, the author discusses the potential for using informed consent, labels, and other types of consumer warnings that have proved to be effective in areas other than nano.
An in-depth investigation into the concept of mass communication practices, this book explores the paradox of why, despite its appeal and promise, public engagement has had only limited success in the dialogue on nanotechnology. Aimed at finding solutions, the book’s resulting conclusions are considered in the context of broader issues. These include how society makes up its collective mind about technology adoption and all the profound questions this raises, in terms of democratic theory.

Zielgruppe

Faculty and students studying science communication or science journalism, risk communication, technical communication or technical writing, and also allied social science fields such as political science and psychology in those courses that are specifically concerned with the adoption of technology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hornig Priest, Susanna

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Nanotechnologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Kultur-, Wissenschafts- & Technologiepolitik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Risikobewertung, Risikotheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Risk Communication in a Democratic Society
Risk and Technology
Technology and Society
Acknowledgments

Introducing Nanotechnology to the Public
Imagining the Nanoscale
Emerging Public Perception
Risk Communication for 21st-Century Democracies

Risk Communication in Theory and Practice
Risk Communication Challenges
The Goals of Risk Communication
Social Theories of Risk

Public Opinion, Public Perception, and Public Understanding
The GM Food Story Revisited
Opinion Studies and Their Implications
Implications for Risk Communication Research and Practice
Nanotechnology and "Cultural Resonance"

What Do People Want from Technology?
Technological Literacy and Democracy
The Challenges of Risk Society
Nanotechnology, Risk, and Society

Audiences, Stakeholders, Cultures, and Nanotechnology Risk
The Role of Advocacy in Democracy
Social, Cultural, and Psychological Influences
Persuasion Research

Disseminating Information about New Technologies
Media’s Role in Risk Societies
Media Effects Theory in the Internet Age
Museums and Science Centers

Lessons and Future Challenges

Über Autor(innen)

Susanna Priest has been active in research concerning popular perspectives on emerging technologies such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and synthetic biology since the 1980s. She is editor of Science Communication: Linking Theory and Practice, a leading journal in its field, author or editor of three books, and author or co-author of dozens of book chapters, journal articles, and reports about public responses to science and technology. Her work on nanotechnology public perception has been supported by several National Science Foundation grants. She is presently Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.