Risk and the Public Acceptance of New Technologies

by Flynn, Rob; Bellaby, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780230517059
• ISBN10: 0230517056
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This volume presents the most recent debates and findings about public attitudes to, and consultation about, the risk of new technologies.

Author Biography

ROB FLYNN is Professor of Sociology, University of Salford, UK. He has researched and published in urban sociology and medical sociology, and about risk perception of new technologies. He was formerly Chair of the editorial board for Sociology, and currently is Chair of the editorial board of Sociology of Health and Illness. PAUL BELLABY is Professor of Sociology, University of Salford, UK. His research and publications have been in sociology of health, and his most recent studies include work on the risks of hydrogen energy, the use of the internet in public health, and questions of trust in science and technology.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. vii
Notes on Contributors	p. ix
Risk and the Public Acceptance of New Technologies	p. 1
Public Dialogue and the Scientific Citizen	p. 24
On the Signature of New Technologies: Materiality, Sociality and Practical Reasoning	p. 41
Public Acceptance of New Technologies in Food Products and Production	p. 66
Making Sense of Uncertainty and Precaution: the Example of Mobile Telecommunications	p. 86
Against the Stream: Moving Public Engagement on Nanotechnologies Upstream	p. 107
Public Acceptability of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Transport and Associated Refuelling Infrastructures	p. 126
Social Representations of Hydrogen Technologies: a Community-Owned Wind-Hydrogen Project	p. 154
Stakeholders' and Publics' Perceptions of Hydrogen Energy Technologies	p. 175
Technological Transitions and Public Engagement: Competing Visions of a Hydrogen Fuel Station	p. 198
Towards a Sustainable Energy Future: Participatory Foresight and Appraisal as a Response to Managing Uncertainty and Contested Social Values	p. 221
Conclusions	p. 248
Index	p. 261
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.