Ethics and Society in Global Governance: Imaginaries of Ethicalization and Democratization in the Production of a New Governance Regime

• In Event: Innovation Under Fire: Shifting Imaginaries of Science, Technology and Society Governance – I

Abstract

New imaginaries of science, technology and society governance are emerging particularly in transnational institutions, which work as key drivers for the development, use and circulation of policy frameworks for 'Ethics and Society' in innovation (e.g. RRI/EU, Agile Governance/WEF, Inclusive Innovation/OECD). Here, discourses and instruments for the better alignment of innovation and society can be read as attempts to regenerate global governance itself: with the imperative of innovation under attack, new settlements are taking place that shift existing conceptualizations of global desirable futures and means to attain them. Yet, the production of a new global regime for the integration of 'Ethics and Society' in the governance of innovation is confronted with competing national imaginaries of Ethicalization and Democratization. While visions of an 'ethical fix' propel the top-down governance of innovation by experts (e.g. ELSI in the US), inclusive and participatory frameworks envision a fix through lay expertise and deliberation (e.g. Public Engagement in the EU).
This paper studies the mobilization of national imaginaries of Ethicalization and Democratization in the production of a new regime for the global governance of innovation. Through a case-study of the OECD's ongoing project to formulate a global framework for "Responsible Innovation in Neurotechnology", I aim to carve out how nationally embedded visions of ethical and societal governance authorize and regenerate the global governance of innovation. Taking a comparative perspective across OECD member countries' imaginaries of the future governance of neurotechnological innovation, it asks for the opportunities and limits of mainstreaming 'Ethics and Society' into a new global governance regime.

Author

• Nina María Frahm, Technical University Munich, Munich Center for Technology in Society