Converging citizens? Nanotechnology and the political imaginary of public engagement in Brazil and the United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper offers a comparative analysis of two public engagement exercises, conducted concurrently in the UK and Brazil. Following an account of how public engagement is situated in the political imaginary of the UK and Brazil, we set out a theoretical framework for such comparison, highlighting questions of narrative, political culture and civic epistemology. We then set out key differences in response, considering Brazilian citizen responses as prototypically more positive of (nano)technology, and as more amenable to and accepting of Enlightenment master narratives of technoscientific progress. UK citizen responses, by contrast, were more tragic, and more informed by resistant narratives of technoscientific failure. Although such distinctions are not absolute, they are nevertheless significant. We conclude by pointing to a set of analytical and normative challenges for how the science and technology studies analyst is to understand the politically contingent character of public engagement in the governance of science and technology.

Engaging Narratives and the Limits of Lay Ethics: Introduction

“…He thereby underscores the compelling quality and enduring character of the five narratives, showing, in a sense, their completeness and necessity. Dupuy also questions, however, whether the ancient and modern mythologies provide a cultural repertoire that can 12 Consider "Promethean shame" as one such effect of the future upon the present. According to Günther Anders, the shame of being born rather than made can arise with the fear of having been born too early [1].…”

“…After they were presented with different scenarios of nanotechnological futures, some positive others negative, all in the public sphere, each of the groups was encouraged to deliberate on their plausibility in the light of current political economy dynamics and governance arrangements. In all of the focus groups, both in the UK and in Portugal, though not in Brazil, people arrived at tragic conclusions, believing that under real-world conditions nanotechnologies would lead to disaster of some kind (compare [12]). This general pattern among European publics resonates with Dupuy's analysis that at the heart of nanotechnological research programs lies the dangerous desire to control that which is out-of-control (see also [11]).…”

“…Either way, the projected future acts upon the present not only in the sense that it requires action for its realization but also in that it challenges and undermines this present in a variety of ways. 12 To fix upon this future is thus to evaluate the present: what precisely is the problem in or with the present that requires a nanotechnological solution or that would benefit from one? It is here that the rationality of the detour can be avoided and a more immediate but conflictual stance towards competing values developed-one that, in the words of Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, involves a "requalification, an empowerment of the political sphere" [2].…”

Public Involvement and Narrative Fallacies of Nanotechnologies

“…( [11], 215)] While the article does not address responses to other technologies, it can be argued that the quote frames the UK perceptions as specific to nanotechnologies. Another understanding of the DEEPEN findings can be found in an article on science education the authors write: 'The DEEPEN programme identifies five "narratives" that influence responses about nanotechnologies' ( [27], 107).…”

A moralidade da nanotecnologia

“…Embora muito analisado e explorado pelas ciências exatas e naturais, este fenômeno recente e -o que mais interessa aqui -suas possí-veis consequências éticas são ainda em boa parte desconhecidas pela população em geral 5 .…”