Please Repost Widely Loka Alert 6:5 (1 Oct. 1999) Where Appropriate DEMOCRATIC POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY: THE MISSING HALF Using Democratic Criteria in Participatory Technology Decisions Friends & Colleagues: This is one in an occasional series on the democratic politics of research, science, and technology issued free of charge by the nonprofit Loka Institute. To be added to the Loka Alert E-mail list, or to reply to this post, please send a message to <[log in to unmask]>. Thanks! This Loka Alert announces a new Loka Institute project on "Identifying Democratic Technologies." Further information about this project is on the Web at <http://www.Loka.org/idt/intro.htm>. Cheers to all, Dick Sclove, Founder & Research Director The Loka Institute, P.O. Box 355, Amherst, MA 01004, USA E-mail <[log in to unmask]>, Web <http://www.Loka.org> Tel. +1-413-559-5860; Fax +1-413-559-5811 --------------------------------------------------------------------- (I) DEMOCRATIC POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY: THE MISSING HALF Using Democratic Criteria in Participatory Technology Decisions by Dick Sclove, E-mail <[log in to unmask]> Founder & Research Director, The Loka Institute No nation on earth has an effective system for taking into account the profound effects that technologies exert on basic social and political structures, including on democratic values and institutions. The absence of such a capability stunts fulfilment of the democratic promise, thwarting people's opportunities to establish the lives, communities, and societies they wish. In response, the Loka Institute has launched a new project on "Identifying Democratic Technologies." Our objective is to develop participatory tools for evaluating crucial but neglected social repercussions produced by technologies. If successful, such tools can function as alternatives to the economically-grounded methods (such as cost-benefit analysis) that, despite their inability to take into account technologies' impacts on basic social structure, today dominate decisions about technology. Our immediate effort involves adapting "scenario workshops on urban sustainability" -- a participatory technology assessment method developed recently in Europe -- to incorporate the debate and use of criteria for evaluating technologies' social and political significance. The criteria that we will use as a starting point derive from my 1995 book _Democracy and Technology_ (New York and London: Guilford Press). "The issues with which the Loka Institute's project on Identifying Democratic Technologies plans to grapple seem of fundamental significance to me. I anticipate the results to prove of deep interest across a wide variety of contexts of application, be it in Europe, the United States, or elsewhere." -- Francisco Fernandez, Principal Administrator, European Commission Innovation Program An essay introducing the Loka Institute's new project on Identifying Democratic Technologies appears on the Web at <http://www.Loka.org/idt/intro.htm>. The table of contents of that essay is shown below: ********************************************************************** DEMOCRATIC POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY: THE MISSING HALF Contents 1. Democratizing Technology: Historical & Theoretical Background (2 pages) 2. Debating & Applying Democratic Design Criteria (1 page) 3. European Scenario Workshops (2 pages) 4. Using Democratic Criteria Within Scenario Workshops on Urban Sustainability (3 pages) o Table 1: Questions For Examining Technologies' Political Effects 5. Democratic Politics Versus Economics-As-Usual (1/2 page) 6. Next Steps (including What You Can Do) (1/2 page) ********************************************************************** ABOUT THE LOKA INSTITUTE The Loka Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making research, science and technology responsive to democratically decided social and environmental concerns. Current Loka projects include: o The Community Research Network o Deliberative Citizens' Panels on Science & Technology o Identifying Democratic Technologies o Building a Constituency for Democratizing Research, Science & Technology TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE LOKA INSTITUTE, to participate in our on-line discussion groups, to download or order publications, or to help please visit our Web page: <http://www.Loka.org>. Or contact us via E-mail at <[log in to unmask]>. ###