Democratizing Technology: Risk, Responsibility and the Regulation of Chemicals

Citation

(2008), "Democratizing Technology: Risk, Responsibility and the Regulation of Chemicals", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 9 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2008.24909bae.004

Democratizing Technology: Risk, Responsibility and the Regulation of Chemicals

Article Type: Books and resources From: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Volume 9, Issue 2.

Anne ChapmanEarthscanLondon2007240 pp.ISBN 1844074218£49.95

This book is an original and critical examination of a key debate in science and technology: how society controls, governs and makes decisions about the development and use of technology. The book focuses on chemicals as the most pervasive technology on earth with wide ramifications for industry, government, society and the environment. It provides detailed coverage of the new EU 2006 REACH regulation that requires chemical companies to divulge information about all substances in their chemicals in order to protect humans and the environment.

Attention is also given to the immensely important new EU chemical regulations, Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) the EU's largest ever legal framework, discussing the problems that are likely to occur in REACH's reliance on risk assessment methods and suggesting an alternative way forward for the regulation of chemicals. This volume is a breath of fresh air, providing much needed clarity and insight into the heart of the science and technology debates that are key to academic study, risk analysis and mitigation, as well as the domestic and international law, regulation and policy that govern all aspects of our relationship with the human and biological worlds.

IPPR Report: Warm Words II

The climate is changing and so is the way that people talk about it. And just as climate change is occurring more rapidly than it appeared just a few years ago, the language that we use in relation to the phenomenon develops and changes quickly too. Last year, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), commissioned Linguistic Landscapes to undertake research into the use of language about climate change with sponsorship from the Energy Saving Trust.

“Warm Words: how are we telling the climate story and can we tell it better?” written by Gill Ereaut and Nat Segnit and published by ippr proved to be such a hot topic and the subject so fluid, that this year a follow up, extended report has been produced. The new report is called “Warm Words II: how the climate story is evolving and the lessons we can learn for encouraging public action” and can be downloaded from: www.ippr.org.uk/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=561