Social Psychological Dimensions of Bioenergy Development and Public Acceptance

The best technology does no good unless people use it. Thus, the future of biofuels depends not only on development of effective and efficient technologies but also on the social, economic, and political climate within which people decide to use or avoid these new fuel sources and technologies. On a social psychological level, individual behaviors are often guided by people’s attitudes toward the behavior or objects involved and by the norms established by others within the social setting. Therefore, understanding technology adoption requires an understanding of how public attitudes and beliefs are formed or changed, as well as the implications of these changes for social norms. We provide an overview of basic social psychology research connecting attitudes and norms to individual behavior, and we describe implications of these social factors for biofuel development and use.     

Anthropology in the Public Sphere, 2008: Emerging Trends and Significant Impacts

ABSTRACT   The themes, trends, and significant events of 2008 demonstrate that anthropology has established a new foothold in the public sphere—one that makes the most of novel forms of communication to reach far beyond the ivory tower to disseminate knowledge widely and freely. This review focuses on six topical areas of robust anthropological research in 2008 that also addressed some of the year's most pressing problems and issues, including the following: (1) war and peace; (2) climate change; (3) natural, industrial, and development-induced disaster recovery; (4) human rights; (5) health disparities; and (6) racial understanding, politics, and equity in the United States. It concludes by addressing some emerging issues in 2009 that especially require anthropological attention and insight, if we are to move beyond "business as usual."[Keywords: practicing anthropology, public anthropology, 2009 trends, anthropological impacts]     

Reflections on the Limits of Science and Technology

SYNOPSIS. Exuberance over insights gained in the infant fieldof genetics early this centuryled scientists to extrapolatebeyond their data to heredity of behavioral traits in people.Oneof the direct consequences was the incarceration of Americansand Canadians of Japanese ancestry during World War II as enemyaliens. Drawing on this personal experience of the misapplicationof science, I describe the process of scientific indoctrinationand blindness to the limitations of this way of knowing. Thisled to my attempt to demystify science through the electronicmedia. Only recently have I come to understand that two assumptionsthat impelled me to use television in the first place are wrong.The first was that with access to more information about science,the general public would be in a position of making better informeddecisions on issues involving science and technology. The problemis that we are overwhelmed with information and most peoplelack the ability to distinguish meaningful "signal" (i.e., credibleinformation) from background "noise" (i.e., garbage). We believein phantoms created by the acceptance of anything because itexists as print or television programs. My second assumption had been that we need a mechanism to doan in-depth "cost/benefit" analysis of new technologies beforethey are actually made available. But history reveals that thebenefits of new technologies are immediate and obvious whilethe costs are usually hidden and completely unpredictable. But in the rush to exploit new scientific insights we ignorethe fact that science must lookat nature in isolated bits andpieces. Knowledge gained in fragments does not yield an understandingof the greater context from which the pieces are taken. Witheach new discovery, we itch to apply it, forgetting how muchwe have yet to learn. Our attempts to manipulate nature areoften illusions of control created by our ability to overpowernature by brute strength. In the area of genetic engineering,this could be truly disastrous.     

Integrating Social Science into the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network: Social Dimensions of Ecological Change and Ecological Dimensions of Social Change

The integration of the social sciences into long-term ecological research is an urgent priority. To address this need, a group of social, earth, and life scientists associated with the National Science Foundations (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network have articulated a conceptual framework for understanding the human dimensions of ecological change for the LTER Network. This framework explicitly advocates that what is often divided into natural and human systems be considered a single, complex social-ecological system (SES). In this paper, we propose a list of core social science research areas, concepts, and questions; identify the need for multiscale investigatory frameworks crucial for implementing integrated research; and suggest practical approaches for integration. In sum, this paper is a general outline for empirical and cross-site research projects where investigators agree that bringing together social, biological, and earth scientists can lead to synthetic approaches and a unified understanding of the mechanisms regulating SES. Although the motivation for this goal is specific to the LTER Network and similar projects, we believe that the issues and ideas presented here are widely applicable to other interdisciplinary SES studies.     

Equity, Utility, and the Marketplace: Emerging Ethical Issues of Umbilical Cord Blood Banking in Australia

Over the past decade, umbilical cord blood (UCB) has routinely been used as a source of haematopoietic stem cells for allogeneic stem cell transplants in the treatment of a range of malignant and non-malignant conditions affecting children and adults. UCB banks are a necessary part of the UCB transplant program, but their establishment has raised a number of important scientific, ethical and political issues. This paper examines the scientific and clinical evidence that has provided the basis for the establishment of UCB banks. We also discuss the major ethical issues that UCB banks raise, including ownership of cord blood, processes for obtaining consent for its collection and storage, and confidentiality. Finally, we review other concerns about commercial non-altruistic banking, including concerns about social justice, equity of access and equity of care.