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Risk Management in Technocracy

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Handbook of Risk Theory

Abstract

Technocracy is an idea that has a long history. The idea of rule by experts goes back to ancient Greece, while the idea of rule by scientists or engineers is several centuries old. Formal mathematics, empirical studies, and natural scientific approaches are primary. A recent version of technocracy claims that the technicians do not literally rule but frame the choices of the leaders of industry and government. Technocracy can also be an attitude toward society or a tendency within individual institutions. Technocratic risk management is that version of risk management that emphasizes purely scientifically determined, objective measures of risk and ignores, downplays, or attempts to discredit public fears or estimates of risk that do not correspond to the scientific probabilities of death, disease, and injury. For a technocrat risk communication is either purely descriptive information or an attempt to undermine public fears or concerns with risk that differ from those of the specialists. Technocratic risk management contrasts with democratic or participatory risk evaluation. Despite the fact that no full technocracy exists, technocratic elements may be present in various forms of deliberative democracy and risk management involving public or citizen participation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of New Hampshire, 45 Hamilton Smith Hall; 95 Main Street, 03824, Durham, NH, USA

    Prof. Val Dusek

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  1. Prof. Val Dusek
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Correspondence to Val Dusek .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy Department Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Sabine Roeser

  2. Philosophy Department, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Sabine Roeser

  3. Human Technology Center, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Rafaela Hillerbrand

  4. Department of Plant Physiology and Forest Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Per Sandin

  5. Section for Philosophy and Ethics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Martin Peterson

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Dusek, V. (2012). Risk Management in Technocracy. In: Roeser, S., Hillerbrand, R., Sandin, P., Peterson, M. (eds) Handbook of Risk Theory. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1433-5_46

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1433-5_46

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

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  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1433-5

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