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The Global Politics of Science & Technology - Volumes 1 & 2 by Maximilian Mayer, Mariana Carpes, Ruth Knoblich (eds) Heidelberg: Springer, 584 pp., Two volume set, 199.99 euro; Hard-cover
Science and Technology has attracted considerable attention within International Relations (IR) studies, but to some extent, this appears to have been largely within the context of 'strategic tool use' by the different actors in the global economy. The problem, as it is framed within this book, is that formany authors, Science and Technology, and the global dimensions thereof, remains a secondary consideration to IR scholarship, rather than what seems to be an important (albeit emerging) driver of the global political system. Contrary to the expectations of post- World War II IR scholars, Science and Technology research has not developed into a specialised subfieldwithin IR, as it has in other disciplines. This lack of research interest, apparent from the contribution IRmakes to the published literature on the topic, has led the editors of this book (Mayer, Carpes & Knoblich) to advocate that IR scholars need to engage more systematically with the topic as a matter of urgency. They identify a critical research need that IR address its 'internal logics, so that it is better equipped to genuinely theorise and conceptualise the variety of meanings, the forms of power, and political ramifications of current science and technological innovations'.
This book is a comprehensive and extensive attempt to capture and explore the politics of Science and Technology ('techno-politics'), frommultiple perspectives that traverse classical themes in IR (i.e. nuclear threats & global controls, the role of scientific epistemic communities in shaping global practice) tomore recent debates (i.e. nanotechnology & apportioning international market shares, state territoriality & governance of virtual borders in cyperspace). It is a...