Knowledge Politics and Converging Technologies
May 6-7 2008, Brussels, Belgium

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Location

European Commission
Borschette Building, Room: AB-2C
Centre Albert Borschette; 36 rue Froissart
1049 Brussels

Agenda & Programme

Knowledge politics delineates the field of activities designed and implemented for the purpose of monitoring, regulating or even controlling the production and application of new knowledge gained through science and technology. Such activities are not new but have gained importance in the course of the 1990s with the rise of biotechnology and life sciences more generally. In view of its promise to enhance human performance through even greater interventions in the body, mind, and environment, converging technologies promises to become another virulent field of knowledge politics.

The aim of this workshop is twofold: to reflect on the meaning and implications of knowledge politics in general; and to draw out theoretical conclusions about how knowledge politics in the field of life sciences and converging technologies can be expected to impact on science and research, on the one hand, and on democratic deliberative institutional practices, on the other hand. The thematic areas to be explored are:

• Social and political contexts of knowledge politics (social, economic and political conditions; anticipatory governance; scope of influence; ethical considerations)
• Forms of governance and regulation for converging technologies (principles of governance; regulatory frameworks; deliberative processes)
• Practicing knowledge politics (risk assessment of converging technologies; the role of expert committees; engaging civil society; democratizing science)
  

Tuesday, 6 May 2008
10:30 – 13:00	Panel I. Social, Political and Science Contexts of Knowledge Politics Chair: Nico Stehr, Zeppelin University Foresight for PACT: Prospective Applications of Converging Technologies Jack Smith, Science and Technology Foresight, Canada Governing Converging Technologies: Emerging Perspectives from Industry, Government and Civil Society Jacquelyn Luce, Zeppelin University Anticipatory Governance or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Are we Shifting from A ‘Precautionary’ to a ‘Proactionary’ Knowledge Politics? Steve Fuller, University of Warwick
13:00 - 14:30	Lunch break
14:30 - 17:30	Panel II. Forms of Governance and Regulation for Converging Technologies Chair: Ronald J. Pohoryles, ICCR The Rhetoric of Converging Technologies Joachim Schummer, University of Darmstadt Debating the Risks and Ethics of Emerging Technologies Download Paper Karen Kastenhofer, Austrian Academy of Sciences Bringing Converging Technologies Close to the Civil Society: The Role of Precautionary Principle in Risk Technology Assessment Download Paper Franc Mali, University of Ljubljana Hiding the Risks of How to Govern Technological Conflicts Download Paper Piotr Stankiewicz, Nicolas Copernicus University
17:30	End of First Day
20:00	Social Event
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
10:00 - 13:00	Panel III. Practicing Knowledge Politics Chair: John Crowley, UNESCO The President’s Council on Bioethics: Modelling a New Kind of Knowledge Politics in the United States Download Paper Adam Briggle, University of Twente UK Governmental Public Dialogue and the Construction of Converging Public Discourses: From Knowledge Politics to the ‘Politics of No Politics’? Kevin Burchell, London School of Economics Knowledge Transfer from Citizens Panels to Regulatory Bodies in the Domain of Nano-Enabled Medical Applications Download Paper Johann Evers, Michiel van Oudheusden and Joel d’Silva, University of Leuven Connecting Public Involvement to Political Decisions in the Case of Nanotechnologies Dorotheé Benoit Browaeys, VivAgora
13:00 - 14:30	Lunch break
14:30 - 17:00	Roundtable Discussion Knowledge Politics and Contestation in Converging Technologies Moderator: Steve Fuller, University of Warwick Participants Elie Faroult, DG-Research, European Commission Arie Rip, University of Twente Dorotheé Benoit Browayes, VivAgora Jack Smith, Technology Foresight Canada John Crowley, UNESCO Yair Sharan, ICTAF, Tel-Aviv University Questions to be addressed: Is the ‘anticipatory governance’ approach to knowledge politics anything more than advanced public relations work to ease the reception of CT-based innovations? On balance, will the increasing prominence of CT in the global political economy be a source greater cooperation or conflict amongst nations? Will CT force a redefinition of fundamental legal categories like ‘rights’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘property’? To what extent can history provide a guide to understanding the emerging configuration of the knowledge politics surrounding CT?
17:00	End of Workshop