Articulation: how societal goals matter in nanotechnology

Abstract

Science policies try to steer scientists to conduct societally relevant research. This societal relevance is often expressed in large societal goals, such as addressing sustainability or helping with the problems that an ageing society might bring. Emerging technologies, like nanotechnology, are often surrounded by large expectation on how they might contribute to societal progress. It is however unclear how such broad and unarticulated ambitions relate to the actual development of new technologies. This research intends to study how the different articulations of broad societal challenges are used by many different actors to specify, justify and legitimate different directions of research within nanotechnologies. It studies the Dutch national nanotechnology program, NanoNextNL. Large societal goals, like sustainability, the ageing society, responsible innovation and valorization, are unquestionably normative and summarize a broad and undetermined spectrum of possible specifications. By articulating a societal goal, a connection is made between the big word and a specific direction in science or technology. For example, the phrase ‘new medicine will help an ageing society’ is an articulation of the ageing society. The ageing society is specified, because ‘the ageing society’ as is a broad concept, but apparently new medicine will help. At the same time the ‘new medicine’ is being legitimized: it is generally accepted that is a good thing to address the problems associated with the ageing society, so if new medicine can help, new medicine is also a good thing. This study shows that some articulations have been articulated very often and have become taken for granted, while others require much more explanation. For example saying a solar panel is sustainable is generally accepted without explaining why this is so. In this study of a theoretical framework for this articulation is developed. This study has important conclusions and implications for (science) policymakers and for scientists. It shows that some researchers take it for granted that their research is connected with a societal goal. For example solar panel researchers take it for granted that they contribute to sustainability and medical researchers take it for granted that they contribute to the ageing society. They also think societal goals for science are a good idea in general. However, researchers in sensor research are not so sure whether they contribute to sustainability and researchers in food research are equally unsure whether they contribute to the ageing society. They are much more skeptical of societal goals in science policies in general and think that many researchers are simply ‘window-dressing’ to receive funding. Furthermore it shows how early articulations can have large consequences later in the program. In the NanoNextNL program valorization was specified as that every research project had to work together with a company so that knowledge and technology transfer would be achieved. In this case, no window-dressing was possible, but having an industry partner was no guarantee for knowledge or technology transfer. Finally, the societal goals, their normative force and all the different articulations that take shape are very much consequential for the direction that science takes.