This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Laird, F. N. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Technocracy revisited: knowledge, power and the crisis in energy decision making

Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, University Park, Denver, CO 80208-0280, USA

Technocracy is problematic because it disempowers citizens. Previously, scholars worried that technocracy empowered technical elites. When that con tention failed, technocracy was dismissed as not being a serious problem. But the literature was half right. The growing importance of scientific technology in public affairs does have an effect on the power relationships within society. The mistake was assuming that possession of scientific knowledge automati cally enhanced power for the possessors. That error came out of a conceptual confusion about the nature of power relationships and the role of scientific knowledge within them. This paper will review that conceptual ground and reformulate the concept of technocracy. It then presents a case study in energy policy, virtually a critical case, showing the empirical validity of the reformu lation of technocracy.

Organization & Environment, Vol. 4, No. 1, 49-61 (1990)
DOI: 10.1177/108602669000400103


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?