COST Action CA17132 - APPLY
European Network for Argumentation and Public Policy Analysis

(2020) “Beyond the co-production of technology and society: The discursive treatment of technology with regard to near-term and long-term environmental goals.” by Üzelgün, M. A., & Pereira, J. R.

The co-production of technology and society is today a widely accepted notion. On the other hand, there is arguably a puzzle or “paradox” of technology where the means par excellence to higher-level (e.g., socio-environmental) goals, comes into view as an end in itself. We hold that to overcome the paradox, and to better understand co-production of technology and society, one needs to distinguish between near-term/concrete and long-term/abstract institutional contexts. We draw on an extended framework of practical reasoning and argumentation to refashion the distinction made in the literature repeatedly but in an inconsistent manner between concrete/particular (technologies) and abstract/general (technology), and put it in a temporal-teleological perspective. In a study of interviews (N=25) with Portuguese low-carbon energy transition actors, we show that (1) in the near-term/concrete context of renewable energy technologies, technological change is discussed as embedded in the institutional framework, and (2) when the spatio-temporal horizons of the discussion is enlarged, technology features in the discourse an independent external force. While particular technologies feature as means in a primarily goals-based reasoning, technology-in-general enters into discussion mainly with its consequences. We conclude by emphasizing the need to pay attention to transfer and interference of meaning in the discourse concerning multi-layered and multi-phased (environmental) policy problems.

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COST Action CA17132

Providing and criticising reasons is indispensable to achieve sound public policy that commands the support of both citizens and stakeholders. This need is now widely acknowledged in the recent literature and key EU documents, which highlight the perils of populist discourse and policies.

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Andreia Domingues - Grant Manager [CA 17132]
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