Democratizing technology: risk, responsibility and the regulation of chemicals

摘要

What does the regulation of chemicals have in common with the work of Hannah Arendt, the philosophy of technology, or the UK building regulations? In her book Democratizing Technology, philosopher and environmental activist Anne Chapman brings together a remarkable range of intellectual resources to question how we assess technologies. In particular, she analyses the regulation of chemical hazards under the European Union programme for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACH). Chapman convincingly shows that what passes as objective and neutral risk assessment actually rests on politically charged and ethically disputed assumptions.