Review article
RISK TECHNOLOGIES AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CHALLENGES: GEO-ENGINEERING IN RISK SOCIETY
Toni Pustovrh
orcid.org/0000-0001-8956-7123
; Sveučilište u Ljubljani, Fakultet za društvene znanosti, Centar za proučavanje znanosti
Andrej A. Lukšič
orcid.org/0000-0002-7089-6717
Abstract
The paper introduces the issue of man-made climate change as well as social, political and technological development that led to the construction and spread of the ideas about the ability of geo-engineering interventions to mitigate expected climate changes. At the same time geo-engineering, defined as large-scale environmental engineering able to counteract the changes in atmospheric chemistry, is observed together with the concept of risk society as well as technological attempts to resolve contemporary problems that are at least partially of socio-cultural and not only of technical or natural origin. The central part of the paper presents an overview and categorization of specific geo-engineering techniques considering their mechanisms, supposed theoretical efficiency to reduce global warming and possible unintended negative consequences. The paper also discusses the potential of mentioned geo-engineering techniques for purposeful adversarial use in the sense of dual-use technology. The concluding part summarizes the findings from the analysis and identifies geo-engineering techniques that involve the least risk. The paper also discusses the position of technology and risk in risk society, as well as possible dangers of the commercialization of geo-engineering that might, through post-academic models of science, lead to the normalization and implementation of those geo-engineering techniques that have the highest potential for side effects.
Keywords
risk society; dual-use; geo-engineering; global warming; commercialization; risk technologies
Hrčak ID:
79125
URI
Publication date:
28.3.2012.
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