Nano dreams and nightmares: emerging technoscience and the framing and (re)interpreting of the future, present and past

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/93787

Title: Nano dreams and nightmares: emerging technoscience and the framing and (re)interpreting of the future, present and past
Author(s): McGrail, Stephen
Abstract: Imagined nanotechnology futures are polarised between utopian dreams and apocalyptic nightmares. This paper provides an introduction to nanotechnology, a highly complex research and policy realm, and the contesting of 'nano-futures'. How the future and past are mobilised during the development of emerging technologies is of particular interest. Drawing on work in the field of Science and Technology Studies, which distinguishes between 'looking into' and 'looking at' the future, nanotechnology's intensely future-oriented dynamic is assessed. These dynamics have implications for the understanding of change processes and images of the future, as well as for constructive engagement with 'nanotechnology'.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology
Source: Journal of Futures Studies, Vol. 14, no. 4 (Jun 2010), pp. 23-48
Publication year: 2010
FOR Code(s): 1503 Business and Management
Keyword(s): Convergence; Expectations; Future; Imaginaries; Nanoscience; Nanotechnology; Sociology
Publisher: Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, Tamkang University
ISSN: 1027-6084
Publisher URL: http://www.jfs.tku.edu.tw/
Peer reviewed