| Technology Democracy |
Article Index for Technology |
Website Links For Technology |
Information AboutTechnology Democracy |
|
Impact, evaluation, governance, ownership, choice and use or rejection of new Technologies as well as the continued use of existing benign technologies are crucial for society in the 21st century. These impact on the livelihoods and Food Sovereignty of the majority as well as the integrity of the Biosphere . With Intellectual Property laws and global trade rules protecting the technology choice interests of the rich, the poor majority are in a weak position to exercise their democratic rights, in particular with reference to the technologies they may wish to use. To overturn the negative impacts on society, livelihoods and The Environment that have been created by industrial technologies, e.g. Fossil Fuel technologies, CFC s, Genetic Engineering , GMO s and now Nanotechnologies , and to liberate the technological capabilities of the majority, a new compact between local and global Governance structures is required - a technology democracy. SCOPE A technology democracy will facilitate deliberative democratic processes to determine the governance systems for technologies that are appropriate and that will benefit the majority for the public good not private appropriation. It will also regulate, in the Public Interest , those technologies that present risks to livelihoods, the well being of the majority and the biosphere. EMERGING CONSENSUS There is an emerging consensus among many concerned individuals and organisations that a better balance needs urgently to be achieved between the advantages of many new products and technologies and the insights that women and men bring though their existing know-how. The basic claim of the new consensus is that technologies only work for people if these people are able to play an integral part in the development and application of any new or existing technology. To ensure that environmental sustainability and equal rights for every individual are safeguarded it is essential to combine scientific and technological innovation with democratic processes that encourage the active participation of all groups in society, unrestricted by intellectual property systems. APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES The technologies - the knowledge and skills people use to provide the goods and services they require - employed by poorer societies often suffer from the imposition of unjust technologies through, projects, aid schemes, perverse subsidies and the hegemonic tendencies of global corporations. Without adequate regulation these technologies may dsirupt or destroy otherwise sustainable local production systems. At the same time, local communities strive to develop and maintain locally-adapted, Appropriate Technology that sustain livelihoods. For example they may be designed to sustain local Agroecosystem s and natural resources in support of food sovereignty. These technologies include the knowledge and skills used by resourceful Indigenous Peoples , women and men Farmers , forest dwellers, pastoralists and fisherfolk and others who have developed a myriad of crop varieties, livestock breeds and sub-species of fish and other aquatic organisms. These provide for every possible social, cultural and economic need and are suited to a kaleidoscope of different Ecosystems , climates, and pest and disease threats. By developing, selecting and improving local crop varieties and livestock breeds, swapping Seeds and animals amongst themselves and sharing these with neighbours, Agricultural Biodiversity has been maintained. This sustains Life on Earth - food and livelihood security, living landscapes and ecosystem integrity. To maintain these sustainable production systems requires a technology democracy. BUILDING CAPABILITIES Technology democracy requires building people's capabilities to develop and use their skills and knowledge, make informed technology choices and pass on their skills to a new generation. It is about innovation within the community, group or local governance structures and not about "dumping" new technologies on communities' doorsteps such as through GM Food Aid . It is also, importantly, about creating frameworks that provide the necessary opportunities for local economies to thrive. INCREASED REGULATION For local people-centred economies to work effectively, requires strict enforceable corporate regulation of extractive national and international public and private sector enterprises that disrupt local production in favour of globalised trade in goods and services. It requires local governance structure to control resources - land, water, genetic resources, labour, local capital - needed for production. It also requires measures to minimise disruption from conflict, health pandemics and political avarice. Privatisation processes, including the patenting of genetic resources that remove control of assets and knowledge from the community, and especially poor people, and enclose local and global commons are the results of corporate power over local sovereignty. The last decade of the 20th century witnessed an unprecedented growth in corporate control of technologies and economies, perhaps unsurpassed since the excesses of the colonial merchant era. A technology democracy would increase democratic regulation of corporations and other entities developing and using technologies and increase local democratic control over natural resources, the technologies to use these sustainably and the protection of local and global commons essential for securing local livelihoods and ecosystem integrity. TECHNOLOGY DEMOCRACY IN ACTION An example of technology democracy in action is the emerging policy framework for food and agriculture - 's Technology Democracy conference in November 2004 '''Democratising science and technology in the interests of all peoples of the world: a four-point agenda''' {Link without Title} BACKGROUND PAPER Democratising Technology by Tom Wakeford SEE ALSO Public Good or Private Gain: reclaimimg science and technology for sustainable development |
|
|