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The Language of STI Policy in the 21st Century - II

Sat, September 7, 9:45 to 11:15am, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Floor: Eight, Proteus

Abstract

We live at a time in which aspirations for a better future are sought predominantly through science, technology and innovation (STI). STI policies have been elevated to key strategies for most nations’ economic growth and social progress. Against this background, scholars and policy actors continue to struggle to understand, navigate and engineer the complex science-society nexus. Over the past several decades various conceptualizations and models of ideal STI policies have been proposed that claim to explain the science-society relationship. At the same time, many scholars agree that the conceptual language of the 20th century, such as the linear model or the basic/applied-distinction, no longer matches the complexities of late modern societies. Recently, a new avenue of STI policy scholarship has demonstrated the power of discourse in defining, framing, and shaping not only STI policy, but also the identities, interests, agency and actions of STI policy actors (as discursive agents) at all scales: individual, organizational, national, transnational, and, not least, in various epistemic communities. Moreover, discursive approaches have proven fruitful for examining the temporal legacies of STI policy; that is how discourses of the past, present and future co-evolve with STI policies and how the present can be understood through both the past and the future. The objective of this panel is to bring together scholars who are using a variety theoretical, analytical and methodological approaches to explore the role and dynamics of discourse and conceptual language in the complex interplay among STI policy, science and society.

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