Building Equity and Equality into Nanotechnology

Abstract

While the authors that have contributed to this book believe that furthering the cause of equity is a laudable goal, there are many people who benefit from existing unequal political arrangements. In this chapter, Georgia Miller and Gyorgy Scrinis argue that many of those currently directing the future of nanotechnology have a strong incentive to maintain these patterns of unequal distribution. They note that nanotechnology is arising from actions that align it with powerful economic and political interests in the Global North. Despite paying lip service to studying the “ethical, legal, and social implications” of nanotechnology, those who are driving the rapid expansion of nanotechnology have not shown any genuine commitment to reorienting the enterprise to human needs or a more equal society.