EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND THE INTERPRETATIVE TURN IN TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

With emerging technologies, the role of Technology Assessment (TA) has changed profoundly. Transgressing classical ex-post TA, Constructive and Real-Time TA acquired an active role in shaping technology development. The 'deliberative turn' brought the incorporation of a wider set of interests through (project-shaped) participation, together with some problems. Taking the example of synthetic biology, we illustrate the 'interpretative turn' in addressing an emerging technology. Rather than contributing to shaping applications, TA provides the frame of reference for an informed debate, endowing meaning to an abstract technology. However, the task of interpretation often entails prior dramatization to raise sufficient interest among the public.