โ Scribed by Harry J. Otway; Detlof Winterfeldt
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
The social acceptability of large-scale technologies depends upon a wide range of things, some related to safety and economics, but also some factors of cultural, social and psychological significance. However, many risk analysts assume that public opposition to technologies is mostly due to unfounded fears of their risks and, that there can exist quantitative criteria of "acceptable risk" that could allow the acceptability of technologies to be judged. This paper traces the emergence of the "acceptable risk" problem formulation and reviews critically some of the approaches that have been put forward to "solve" it. It concludes by discussing the problem of acceptable technology returned to its wider political and cultural context.
Social opposition to technologies is not new. In recent years we have seen many examples, which include rural electrification, water fluoridation, supersonic air transport, contraceptive devices, nuclear weapons and nuclear power (Lawless, 1977). Although opposition itself is not new, the reasons for it have differed from case to case, reflecting a complex mixture of concerns related to morals, religion, political ideologies, power, economics, physical safety and psychological wellbeing. Yet, oddly enough, today's debates about the acceptability of technologies are frequently treated * Paper written in the framework of a collaboration with the FAST Programme (Forecasting and Assessment in the Field of Science and Technology) of the Commission of the European Communities. We wish to thank
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