Controversies as Informal Technology A ssessment

Abstract

Controversies, especially those that surround "early warnings" about impacts of a technology or a large project, may be welcomed as an informal way of technology assessment. This is not always recognized, because of ideals of consensus and context-free rationality. An alternative, rhetorical perspective is presented on controversies and their sociocognitive dynamics, in which interests and actor-strategies play an integral role besides arguments and evidence. Because of such interactions, articulation of insights and positions occurs, that is, social learning. Improvement of social learning has to take the sociocognitive dynamics into account. Absolute standards and methods are impossible, but one can take robustness of views as a realistic goal.