Public Image and Social Acceptance of Nanotechnologies

To understand the motives of the public to support technological innovations is essential for several reasons. On the one hand, it enables to build an «acceptable social balance [between risks and benefits; CP]» but it allows to consider the civil society as an active partner in the diffusion of technological innovation as well. In the case of nanotechnologies, defective information exists about the way in which the public constructs a relationship to such abstract technologies. These defectives have to be rounded out by paying attention to the civil society. In the case of nanotechnologies still few studies exist about the way in which the public constructs a relationship to such abstract technologies, especially in Europe. Additionally these studies do not examine the public image of nanotechnologies considering the regional research contexts. The present paper takes this problem into account, by comparing the public image of nanotechnologies between the regions Hamburg (Germany), Lausanne (Switzerland), and Grenoble (France).

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Public Image and Social Acceptance of Nanotechnologies