Public Engagement and Emerging Technologies

New technologies and the science that created them have transformed
our lives, posing challenges as to how technological change can be
better integrated into society. Over the last few decades, recognition
of these issues has led to different ways of engaging the public in the
assessment and regulation of emerging technologies. However, diverse
factors such as existing regulatory frameworks specific to
jurisdictions, local cultural contexts, and the nature of particular
technologies have ensured that there is no single approach.



This book puts the subject of publics and their engagement with
emerging technologies on a robust footing. With a strong, though not
exclusive, focus on genomic technologies, leading theorists and
practitioners in the field provide overviews of methods and approaches
and theoretical accounts of the processes underlying public engagement.
They also offer precise and clear insights into the key issues of
public participation studies, including ethics, process, and principles
of knowledge distribution in democratic societies. The discussion is
particularly pertinent and central to current concerns in health,
technology, and public participation at a time when the reform of
public and private sector health and social care services are being
debated globally.

Kieran O'Doherty is an assistant professor in
the Department of Psychology at the University of Guelph.
Edna Einsiedel is a professor of communication
studies in the Department of Communication and Culture at
the University of Calgary.