Call for Papers, ASU Science and Governance Conference, April 25-26

April 25-26, 2010
Arizona State University

Call for Papers

The Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University invites participation at Science and Governance: Global and Comparative Perspectives, a workshop to be held April 25-26, 2010, at ASU’s Tempe, AZ, campus. Over the past three decades, science and technology have rapidly globalized, contributing to a wide range of novel policy challenges and controversies. Despite this transformation, S&T policy competence remains, in the US and elsewhere, largely national in focus and orientation. Remarkably little attention is paid to the ways in which science and technology cross-borders and the resulting social, political, and economic ramifications; cross-national differences in S&T policy institutions, framings, cultures, and contexts; or the distribution of risks, benefits, and social dislocations associated with the globalization of science and technology. Equally missing is significant attention to the rapidly emerging sites of transnational governance of scientific research and technological systems, from climate change and geoengineering to infectious diseases and nuclear weapons proliferation.

Science and Governance: Global and Comparative Perspectives will bring together the world’s leading researchers pursuing comparative and global research in science and technology policy. We are especially interested in papers that explore:

·         National similarities and differences in policymaking, understood as processes of problem-solving and culturally variable mechanisms for framing issues, creating new social roles and identities, distributing risks and benefits, and co-producing forms of knowledge and social life.

·         Cultural differences in ethics, public values, and epistemic frameworks that influence national approaches to the governance of S&T. Understanding the sources, expressions, and policy consequences of these normative and philosophical differences is vital to understanding policy dynamics in diverse political contexts and how they shape the globalization of S&T.

·         Cross-national controversies and breakdowns in international regulatory systems, e.g., with respect to public resistance to GM foods, trade disputes at the World Trade Organization, ethics of stem cells, and environmental accounting. Controversies and breakdowns underscore the need to examine the institutional and cultural contexts of policymaking, particularly through comparative analysis across diverse technological sectors, policy environments, and institutional cultures.

Interested researchers are requested to submit an abstract by March 15, 2010 to clark.miller@asu.edu or to Clark Miller, CSPO, Arizona State University, PO Box 875603, Tempe, AZ 85287-5603. Abstracts should be 500-1000 words and include the names and affiliations of all authors; contact information (email, phone, fax, and address) for the lead author; and an indication of whether travel funds will be needed to attend the workshop.