| Synopsis: |
This book argues that new technologies and society's response to them havecreated a relatively new phenomenon, "knowledge politics." Nico Stehr describesWestern society's response to a host of new technologies developed only since the1970s, including genetic experiments, test-tube human conception, recombinantDNA, and embryonic stem cells; genetically engineered foods; neurogenetics andgenetic engineering; and reproductive cloning and the reconstruction of thehuman ancestral genome. He looks also at the prospective fusion ofnanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, transgenic humanengineering, and cognitive science whose products may, as its boosters claim, someday cure disease, slow the aging process, eliminate pollution, and generallyenhance human performance.Knowledge Politics shows how human civilization has reached a new era of concernabout the life-altering potentials of new technologies. Concerns about the societalconsequences of an unfettered expansion of (natural) scientific knowledge arebeing raised more urgently and are moving to the center of disputes in society-and thus to the top of the political agenda. Stehr explains the ramifications ofknowledge politics and the approaches society could take to resolve difficultquestions and conflicts over present and future scientific innovation. |