Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe professional ideology of engineers is said to be rooted in feelings of self‐importance and a belief in an ability to lead, based on qualities of technical expertise and rational decision‐making not held by the public at large. This paper outlines the views of another group of engineers, labelled 'reflexive engineers', having a much more integrated view of socio‐technical systems. Interviews were conducted with engineers working in the Global South in fields such as community water supply and sanitation. The paper aims to uncover how they make sense of the social and how they perceive factors shaping development practice. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractFaced with a well‐documented fresh water crisis in many parts of the world, international institutions are advocating market‐based solutions involving the privatization and commodification of water. The definition of water as a commodity by multilateral organizations in the early 1990s allowed a handful of transnational corporations, supported by the World Bank and the IMF, to become centrally involved in management of public water services in poorer countries. The years 2000 to 2003 saw the retreat of TNC investment in water due to national economic crises, social protest, and the difficulties of extracting profit delivering water to indigent consumers. This article examines the shift in discursive strategy of development organizations, and the resulting rise and fall of TNC involvement in water and sanitation provision in the Third World. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

At a time when the human genome has been sequenced advances in the life sciences seem to have great potential for human health, industry and the environment throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Still, for some, potential risks and ethical dilemmas remain, surrounding issues such as the appropriate use of GM crops, stem cells, genetic information, the nature of intellectual property and other challenges that come with EU accession. This book is the first of its kind to bring together experts from across Europe to explore the landscape of current life science policy and industrial develo

AbstractMany problems faced by the South are rooted as much in longstanding social, economic and environmental difficulties as in the dearth of appropriate engineering solutions. Constraints range from the institutional, to the cultural, to the technological and spatial. Engineers engage with these hurdles in different ways. The contributors to this policy arena map out different ways institutions and engineers connect with the challenges, whether informally, or out of necessity, or through the iterative unfolding of society and technology. In so doing, they add to discussions about how policy can support best practice in engineering. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractFor the first time, the UK research evaluation system, known as the Research Excellence Framework, considered 'measures' of impact in the 2014 review. Here, we focus on impact case studies that had an engineering and international development orientation. We found that writers of impact case studies commonly chose to employ an ecological modernization (economic, environmental, and social value) discourse to shape value claims. We also found that the type of engineering and international development research that appears in impact case studies tends to be high tech, best‐with‐best, and exclusive, rather than low tech, humanitarian, and inclusive.

International audience ; This article reports the findings of a one-year project examining British press coverage of the genetically modified (GM) food debate during the first half of 2003, and both expert and non-expert reactions to that coverage. Two pro-GM newspapers and two anti-GM newspapers were selected for analysis, and all articles mentioning GM during the period in question were stored in a machine readable database. This was then analyzed using corpus linguistic and discourse analytic techniques to reveal recurrent wording, themes and content. This text analysis was complemented by 12 interviews with experts involved in the communication of GM issues, and 12 focus-group sessions in which members of the public reacted to selected newspaper texts and other GM material. Both in the press and in public reaction, the issue of GM was found to be intimately associated with other political events of the time, notably the invasion of Iraq. Except among experts, there was little awareness of the official national debate and issues were approached in more general terms. Pro-GM characterization of the issues as primarily scientific, both by newspapers and experts, was rejected by the anti-GM press and campaigners, and by the focus-group participants. They assessed the issues in a more global frame, rejecting scientists and companies as unreliable. In addition, they linked both US and British GM policy to the invasion of Iraq, and, by analogy, rejected pro-GM arguments as untrustworthy.

This article reports the findings of a one-year project examining British press coverage of the genetically modified (GM) food debate during the first half of 2003, and both expert and non-expert reactions to that coverage. Two pro-GM newspapers and two anti-GM newspapers were selected for analysis, and all articles mentioning GM during the period in question were stored in a machine readable database. This was then analyzed using corpus linguistic and discourse analytic techniques to reveal recurrent wording, themes and content. This text analysis was complemented by 12 interviews with experts involved in the communication of GM issues, and 12 focus-group sessions in which members of the public reacted to selected newspaper texts and other GM material. Both in the press and in public reaction, the issue of GM was found to be intimately associated with other political events of the time, notably the invasion of Iraq. Except among experts, there was little awareness of the official national debate and issues were approached in more general terms. Pro-GM characterization of the issues as primarily scientific, both by newspapers and experts, was rejected by the anti-GM press and campaigners, and by the focus-group participants. They assessed the issues in a more global frame, rejecting scientists and companies as unreliable. In addition, they linked both US and British GM policy to the invasion of Iraq, and, by analogy, rejected pro-GM arguments as untrustworthy.