Seeking out paths of responsible development: exploring the wicked problem facing industrial actors

Abstract

This paper takes as its point of departure the pressure for industry to take up the notionof ‘responsible development’ of nanotechnology when there is little clarity as to what thismight mean in practice. Due to increased complexity, actions to be taken cannot be simplyspecified. It is necessary to further articulate the issues of responsible development, assuch, and through learning by doing;it is on this point that interview data with industrialactors, collected in an earlier project (Shelley-Egan, 2011) are presented as a means ofunderstanding industry’s response to the pressures for responsible development ofnanotechnology, along with the articulation of further issues. The findings show that thereis differential uptake of pressure for responsible development, and ambiguities andattempts at their resolution. However, in new developments related to the responsible development of nanotechnology, one sees new practices and interactions which maycontribute to making the problem manageable at least.