“It shouldn’t look aggressive”: How conceptions about publics shape the development of mining exploration technologies
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In: Public Understanding of Science, Vol. 31, No. 8, 01.11.2022, p. 978-992.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - “It shouldn’t look aggressive”
T2 - How conceptions about publics shape the development of mining exploration technologies
AU - Bleicher, Alena
AU - Häßler, Pauline
AU - David, Martin
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/11/1
Y1 - 2022/11/1
N2 - Today, industrial-scale mining is a high-tech activity that transforms places and regions by creating massive technological infrastructures. “The public” and its relationship with this industry are seen as increasingly relevant for mining projects; however, the role technologies play in this regard is as yet under-researched. In this article, we use an example from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research program to examine how technoscientific actors build relationships with the public in the context of mining technology development. More precisely, we reveal how the public is conceptualized by technology developers and how such conceptions come into play in technology development projects. We argue that a central aspect of this is the assumption that certain characteristics of the public are variable or stable. While characteristics perceived as stable tend to lead to an adjustment of the technology to suit the attitudes of an imagined public, characteristics perceived as variable cause no technological modifications but do influence the selection of communication strategies.
AB - Today, industrial-scale mining is a high-tech activity that transforms places and regions by creating massive technological infrastructures. “The public” and its relationship with this industry are seen as increasingly relevant for mining projects; however, the role technologies play in this regard is as yet under-researched. In this article, we use an example from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research program to examine how technoscientific actors build relationships with the public in the context of mining technology development. More precisely, we reveal how the public is conceptualized by technology developers and how such conceptions come into play in technology development projects. We argue that a central aspect of this is the assumption that certain characteristics of the public are variable or stable. While characteristics perceived as stable tend to lead to an adjustment of the technology to suit the attitudes of an imagined public, characteristics perceived as variable cause no technological modifications but do influence the selection of communication strategies.
KW - imagined publics
KW - mining exploration technology
KW - stable and variable publics
KW - Management studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131566088&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/09636625221100681
DO - 10.1177/09636625221100681
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 35652413
AN - SCOPUS:85131566088
VL - 31
SP - 978
EP - 992
JO - Public Understanding of Science
JF - Public Understanding of Science
SN - 0963-6625
IS - 8
ER -