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I've been really enjoying this piece by @STS_News. But I have THOUGHTS https://link.medium.com/Wi6Fdie1wdb
I'm not arrogant enough to regard this piece as subtweeting me and colleagues, but I work on a few of the cases that Lee rightly says are hype-filled distractions and I use some of the language he takes issue with
I work on anticipatory governance and responsible innovation and I am interested in the hype about self-driving cars and geoengineering. My defence comes from the sociology of expectations. Hype has power in the present. I'm not willing to concede the future to the hypemongers
I've tried to be aware of the risks of doing this. If we start with hype we risk reifying the tech and reinforcing rather than challenging tech determinism. I've been guided by Nordmann's critique of speculative ethics https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11569-007-0007-6
A good debate on this took place here https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tjri20/1/1?nav=tocList. I've also found critiques from Lee, @DEHEdgerton and others v helpful. I think Lee characterises @ASU_SFIS and scholars working on imaginaries unfairly
My own contributions to this debate. First, on social scientists engaging with scientists and policymakers: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11024-012-9199-1
Second, on experimentation and expectations in geoengineering https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-015-9646-0
Third, from my Experiment Earth book. @JaneAFlegal and I have discussed many times how social scientists should engage with geoengineering hype and geoengineering research. I'm still not sure.
Fourth, from my Who's Driving Innovation book
