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Biometrics, presents, futures: the imaginative politics of science–society orderings

Lawless, Christopher

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Authors



Abstract

Biometric technology encompasses a proliferating array of data forms, applications, and stakeholders but has raised numerous social and ethical concerns. This article examines contending perceptions of biometrics by developing a three-way framework of science–society orderings, drawn from social studies of biometrics and wider science studies literature. By analysing documentary sources and participant observation data through this framework, the article identifies a series of distinct normative interpretations or imaginaries of biometrics. It is argued that these imaginaries, described, respectively, as ‘public good’, ‘collective control’, and ‘societal risks’, project contending normative framings of science–society relations. These imaginaries were also however found to reflexively encompass perceived challenges, giving rise to practices that I term imaginative politics. These findings raise the need for science policy studies to consider the distinction between imagining and realizing in greater depth and to consider more profoundly the politics of science–society co-production.

Citation

Lawless, C. (2024). Biometrics, presents, futures: the imaginative politics of science–society orderings. Science and Public Policy, 51(2), 274-284. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scad071

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 9, 2023
Online Publication Date Nov 4, 2023
Publication Date 2024-04
Deposit Date Nov 7, 2023
Publicly Available Date Nov 7, 2023
Journal Science and Public Policy
Print ISSN 0302-3427
Electronic ISSN 1471-5430
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 51
Issue 2
Pages 274-284
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scad071
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1899454

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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