Nanotechnology and the Public : Risk Perception and Risk Communication

This quick, easy-to-read reference supplies data and interpretation on the public perception of nanotechnology, along with a discussion of the implications for risk communication. An integral component of the Perspectives in Nanotechnology Series, the book is based primarily on a review of available social science evidence as well as the author''s research concerning public perceptions of nanotechnology. She applies lessons learned from other emerging technologies to help clarify and define the issues of risk and the public that accompany nanotechnology, and to suggest the challenges involved in managing those risks. The book demnostrates how the wide variety of nanotechnologies under development precludes reliance on a single approach.

From nuclear power to gene therapy to the automobile, history shows that it is useful to encourage and facilitate public discussion about new technologies and their potential dangers. Part of the series Perspectives in Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology and the Public: Risk Perception and Risk Communication assesses results from focus groups, interviews, and other resources to provide a more nuanced understanding of how non-experts perceive nanotechnology and what they expect from it.

Assessing how "ordinary" people form opinions about new technologies and their adoption, this book addresses the role of media messages and pre-existing values in this process, as well as how risks can become either amplified or weakened along the way as a result of social mechanisms. Using solid theory and research to back presented concepts on risk perception and communication, the author discusses the potential for using informed consent, labels, and other types of consumer warnings that have proved to be effective in areas other than nano.

An in-depth investigation into the concept of mass communication practices, this book explores the paradox of why, despite its appeal and promise, public engagement has had only limited success in the dialogue on nanotechnology. Aimed at finding solutions, the book’s resulting conclusions are considered in the context of broader issues. These include how society makes up its collective mind about technology adoption and all the profound questions this raises, in terms of democratic theory.