Margins for Survival: Overcoming Political Limits in Steering Technology examines the political limits as revealed by institutional behavior in the deliberate act of steering technology to produce socially satisfactory outcomes. This book provides an awareness of the predicaments toward which technology-intensive public policy must be generated and tuned.

Organized into 11 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the common features of war, poverty, social injustice, ecological instability, and dehumanization. This text then examines the peril of brutality through psychological-emotional threats of deprivation of basic human rights, dignity, and freedom. Other chapters consider the deprivation individual opportunity for equanimity and self-expression and deprivation of equitable access to resources. This book discusses as well the various step of progress toward risk reduction that involves techniques of social machinery. The final chapter deals with the meaning of life with freedom, dignity, and self-esteem.

This book is a valuable resource for political leaders.

Contenu

Preface
1 Introduction
The Precarious Situation
The Politicizing of Knowledge: Integrating Technology, Society and the State
Survival: A Neglected Governmental Responsibility
2 Threats to Survival
An Inventory of Global Dangers: From Nuclear Terror to Loss of Freedom
The Nuclear Example
Scales of Lethality
Coping with Risk: Safety and Self-Preservation
Social and Technological Risk Abatement
Recent Rehearsals and Close Shaves
3 New Enigmas
The Emerging Trap of Complexity
The Technological System
Interdependencies and Side Effects
Ignorance, Blunder, Folly and Mischief
4 Political Dimensions of Public Policy
Government as a Steering System
Decision Intelligence for System Guidance
Political Power and Political Will
Miscalculations from Political Process
Testing Decisions by Political Results
A Political Focus to Survival: A Summary
5 Truth and Consequences in Failing to Look Ahead
Stress in Decision Making
The Ticking Clock
Pathologies of the Short Run
Clocking and Ranking of Policy Outcomes
Unraveling Kinetics of Political Choice
Underlying Causes of Nearsightedness and Tunnel Vision
6 Coping with Future Threats
An Anthology of Prescriptions
An Anthology of Prescriptions
Refocusing the Inquiry
People and Personhood
7 New Scarcities
Scarcity of Time
Scarcity of Activists
Scarcity of Reserves
8 Strategies of Technological Choice: New Social Learning for Collective Security
Appreciating the Situation: A Cultural Stance
Survival Training: Education for the Future
Coalition Politics: New Collaboration between Scientists, Engineers, and Citizens
Prizes of Anticipation: Crisis Avoidance by Technology Assessment
Interinstitutional Networks: A Metaphoric Fourth Branch of Government
Mechanisms for Conflict Resolution
9 Margins for Survival
Engineering Lessons for Public Safety
Organized Vigilance
Resolute Liquidity
Offsetting the Coercion of Time
10 Global Security
11 Epilogue
To Be Alive and Free, Rational Humanism Is Not Enough
References
Index