The interdisciplinary academic field of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Studies is now approximately two decades old. As the field has evolved, its central curricular mission has come to be the explication of science and technology as complex enterprises that take place in specific social contexts shaped by, and in turn, shaping, human values as reflected and refracted in cultural, political, and economic institutions. Despite, or perhaps because of, the field's maturation, there remain a number of as yet unanswered questions that bear consideration as STS enters the decade of the 1990s.
Nanotechnology promises to amend an understanding of elemental properties, alter the basic techniques of manufacturing, and improve disease diagnosis. There is a disconnect among the positive predictions of scientists and researchers, the fears of public interest groups, and the developers of products. A new framework for evaluating the social implications of nanotechnology will permit a dialogue among interest groups, who currently fail to effectively communicate with one another. Each instance of nanotechnology application will likely have its own unique attributes, but this framework for evaluating the social implications of nanotechnology will address three questions: How do problems become visible to the social groups that contribute to the framing of technology? What kind of language do social groups use to express significance? How does risk standardization contribute to technology stabilization? The suggested framework compares the ways that risk is discussed in military applications, consumer products, and workplace safety.
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