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Abstract :
[en] In this paper we explore the tension surrounding two interrelated sets of science, technology and innovation (STI) policies that evolved together in Europe since the 1980s onward. On the one hand, we focus on the expanding process of neoliberal policies unconditionally supporting STI as strategic resources to generate growth and competitiveness. On the other hand, we link this process with policy decisions to institutionalize Technology Assessment processes and activities to frame and anticipate the potential side effects of STI in newly emerging strategic science regimes. TA and neoliberal STI policies coevolved as “dancing partners” (Rip 1992), relatively independent and closely interacting at the same time. We inquire into the experimental, transforming character of Technology Assessment (TA) by linking its emergence and development to the broader institutional setting of which it is a part. Our analysis brings a macro-sociological and political sensitivity to bear on TA. Rather than conceiving of TA as a mere management tool or governance technique, we suggest that TA processes enact, as well as counteract, dominant innovation policies. Conversely, we look at recent TA de-institutionalization processes in Flanders and Denmark to offer some reflections on the future of TA. Based on our previous researches and on participatory observation in a European FP7 project aimed at expanding TA institutions in Europe, we question TA’s ability to exert its critical capacities if it is to survive only as an instrument aligned with recent policy discourses, such as responsible research and innovation, that emerged in the aftermath of Lisbon’s strategy.