Miller, Georgia; Scrinis, Gyorgy --- "The Role of NGOs in Governing Nanotechnologies: Challenging the ‘Benefits versus Risks’ Framing of Nanotech Innovation" [2010] ELECD 727; in Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew (eds), "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies

Editor(s): Hodge, A. Graeme; Bowman, M. Diana; Maynard, D. Andrew

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446731

Section: Chapter 19

Section Title: The Role of NGOs in Governing Nanotechnologies: Challenging the ‘Benefits versus Risks’ Framing of Nanotech Innovation

Author(s): Miller, Georgia; Scrinis, Gyorgy

Number of pages: 37

Extract:

19 The role of NGOs in governing
nanotechnologies: challenging the
`benefits versus risks' framing of nanotech
innovation
Georgia Miller and Gyorgy Scrinis


19.1 INTRODUCTION

Against the backdrop of very low levels of public awareness, non-
government organizations (NGOs) have struggled to put wide-ranging
public interest issues associated with nanotechnology onto the radar
of those charged with decision-making about governance issues. These
include the need to go beyond a narrow discussion of `benefits versus
risks' to consider the broader social, economic and political dimensions
of nanotechnology, to implement precautionary management of nanote-
chnology's health and environment hazards, and to involve the public in
decision-making. However, as the first sectoral regulatory responses to
nanotechnology emerge, it is apparent that very few of NGOs' governance
proposals are being enacted.
This chapter will outline the public interest issues identified by NGOs,
provide an overview of their governance proposals, and evaluate the
extent to which NGOs have been effective in framing the nanotechnology
debate, securing precautionary management of risks and challenges, and
obtaining meaningful public involvement in decision-making. Whereas
NGOs have achieved some degree of public visibility in the emerging
nanotechnology debate, we argue that their influence on governance has
been more muted. Governments have been unwilling to slow the rapid
pace of nanotechnology commercialization to address basic safety issues,
let alone to support rigorous assessment of broader social, economic
and democratic challenges identified by NGOs and others. Governments
continue to actively resist NGO or wider public involvement in ...