Discourses and discourse sites of nanotechnology Padraig Murphy

Discourses and discourse sites of nanotechnology Padraig Murphy, School of Communications, Dublin City University Environmental Protection Agency STRIVE Research Fellowship, 2007 -2009 Negotiating New Sciences in Society, Dublin City University, 22 nd -23 rd January 2009 Science//Society Symposium

The silver nano particle washing machine…

The Nokia Morph

Under discussion • nanotechnology as a set of discourses • various ‘sites’ where these discourses are ‘grounded’, • that is, where there may be potential for public discourse

Defining discourses We can base our definition of discourse on that of Michel Foucault: “Rules that govern bodies of text and utterances” (Norman Fairclough, Analysing Discourse, 2003)

Defining discourse sites • Locations for grounding a discourse • The discourse and practices appear to be centralised • There is a sense of place, of ‘where’ something happens • Depending on objects and ‘things’ Schatzki, T. R. 2002. The site of the social

A theory of practices • “A 'practice' … is a routinised type of behaviour which consists of several elements, interconnected to one another: forms of bodily activities, forms of mental activities, 'things' and their use • “A practice - a way of cooking, of consuming, of working, of investigating, of taking care of oneself or of others, etc. - forms … a 'block' whose existence necessarily depends on the existence and specific interconnectedness of these elements, and which cannot be reduced to any one of these single elements. ” (p 249 -250) Reckwitz, A. 2002. Toward a theory of social practices: a development in culturalist theorising. European Journal of Social Theory , 5, (2), pp. 245 - 265.

But how would nanotechnology be considered in terms of ‘everyday practices’, when the term appears to be so abstract, largely unknown among publics?

Practice theory and media • “…contextualising a new research paradigm that theorises media as practice, rather than as text or production process: what range of practices are oriented to media and what is the role of media-oriented practices in ordering other practices? ” • [Practice theory] addresses questions that are no longer questions about media as such, or even about the direct consumption of media, but rather questions about the contributions media practices make to social practice more generally” (Couldry, 2006, p 129 -130). Couldry, N. 2004. Theorising media as practice. Social Semiotics, 14 (2), pp 115 -132.

Examples of discourse sites

Public affairs media Technoscience/ commerce Policy Education Civil Society Organisations Local community Fictive/ Web 2. 0 forums Humanities & social sciences

What about nanoscale science itself? Is it a discourse site? What about nanotechnology products? Mark Erickson (2005). Science, culture and society: understanding science in the 21 st century A distinction in ‘formal science’ practices (lab-produced knowledge) between use of ‘esoteric’ language (practices of everyday lab science and applied technology) and ‘exoteric’ (discourses on science that occur outside these practices). Erickson suggests that current nanotechnology is mainly exoteric.

Examples of discursive framing and distinct practices at discourse sites Technoscience/ commerce Policy Public affairs media Science Education Highly strategic, economy focus; internationally a turn towards science and society references Critical, investigative, setting up protagonists and issues, deadlines and angles Applied formal science, practices detached from ‘exoteric discourses’

Where is the risk talk?

Examples of discursive framing and distinct practices at discourse sites (ctd): including risk discourses Civil Society Organisations Combative, harmony with nature, safety rather than risk, big statements Humanities & social sciences Theoretical, abstract, main constructions of nanotechnology with formal science Local community Local issues, many grounded discourses, H&SS -driven nano talk

Examples of discursive framing and distinct practices at discourse sites (ctd): Where is the risk talk? Fictive/ Web 2. 0 Forums Mixing esoteric with exoteric; largely utopian but nano risks discussed openly

Irish nanotechnology discourse sites?

Irish nanotechnology discourse sites? ? ?

Can Ireland compete/ connect? “responsible innovation” - business case social case cultural case participative case educational case

Concluding questions • Is nanotechnology such an interdisciplinary entity that there a range of sites of specific practices, many with common framings? • Can we share resources and ideas (and frames) across these discourse sites successfully for public engagement? • Irish policy, technoscience and public affairs media out of step with emerging risk and cultural discourses of nanotechnology globally?