Impact science and production science for sustainable nanotechnological development
Keywords:
nanotechnology, sustainable development, impact science, treadmill of production, precautionary principle, technological trajectoriesAbstract
Nanotechnology is being promoted as a solution to problems as diverse as world hunger, energy dependence, and environmental degradation. Nanotechnology research aims to provide new materials, production processes, and military and commercial applications that will transform social relations and economies. While some see nanotechnology as advancing ecological modernisation, this analysis of science funding structures and institutional priorities and goals raises concerns that the last decade of nanotech investment has served to accelerate the treadmill of production. The transnational race to develop nanotechnology capacity provides an opportunity to examine how scientific potential is developed and released, and to what ends. Patterns of investment in nanotech research demonstrate an emphasis on production science and relatively little attention to impact science, aimed at understanding the risks nanotechnology may pose to the environment and public health. The result of this skewed allocation of research funds is that nanotechnology research, which could be harnessed to improve sustainability, has instead diminished the capacity of social systems to understand and respond to changes in ecosystems.
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