The exploration of ways to conceptualize the shaping of the present by socio-technical futures is the aim of this volume. Therefore it brings together contributions from Science and Technology Studies and Technology Assessment, which focus all on the question how socio-technical images of the future shape present processes of innovation and transformation starting from empirical case studies and generalizing specific findings or by tackling conceptual questions from the outset. A white paper of 23 authors, which aims to sensitize researchers and practitioners completes the volume.Contents

Analytical Concepts, Different Kinds and Patterns of Socio-Technical Futures.- Socio-Technical Futures in Different Processes of Change.- Intervening into the Present Through Prospective Reasoning.- White Paper. Target Groups

Researchers and students from social sciences and humanities

The Editors Andreas Lösch is senior research scientist at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) and private lecturer for sociology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Armin Grunwald is director of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), full professor of philosophy and ethics of technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and heads the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB). Martin Meister is a research associate at the Department of Sociology, Chair on Sociology of Technology and Innovation at Technical University of Berlin. Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer is full professor of sociology and head of the sociology of technology and innovation group at the Department of Sociology at Technical University of Berlin.

Autorentext
Andreas Lösch is senior research scientist at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) and private lecturer for sociology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Armin Grunwald is director of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), full professor of philosophy and ethics of technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and heads the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB).
Martin Meister is a research associate at the Department of Sociology, Chair on Sociology of Technology and Innovation at Technical University of Berlin.
Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer is full professor of sociology and head of the sociology of technology and innovation group at the Department of Sociology at Technical University of Berlin.

Klappentext
The exploration of ways to conceptualize the shaping of the present by sociotechnical futures is the aim of this volume. Therefore it brings together contributions from Science and Technology Studies and Technology Assessment, which focus all on the question how socio-technical images of the future shape present processes of innovation and transformation starting from empirical case studies and generalizing specific findings or by tackling conceptual questions from the outset. A white paper of 23 authors, which aims to sensitize researchers and practitioners completes the volume. Contents

Analytical Concepts, Different Kinds and Patterns of Socio-Technical Futures.- Socio-Technical Futures in Different Processes of Change.- Intervening into the Present Through Prospective Reasoning.- White Paper. Target Groups

Researchers and students from social sciences and humanities

The Editors

Andreas Lösch is senior research scientist at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) and private lecturer for sociology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Armin Grunwald is director of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), full professor of philosophy and ethics of technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and heads the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB).

Martin Meister is a research associate at the Department of Sociology, Chair on Sociology of Technology and Innovation at Technical University of Berlin.
Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer is full professor of sociology and head of the sociology of technology and innovation group at the Department of Sociology at Technical University of Berlin.

Inhalt
Introduction of the editor: Sociotechnical futures shaping the presentPart I: Analytical concepts, types and patterns of sociotechnical futuresGrunwald, Armin (ITAS/ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology): Shaping the present by creating picturesof the future?Meister, Martin / Ingo SchulzSchaeffer (Dep. of Sociology/TU Berlin): How engineers deriverequirements from situational scenarios the basic mechanisms.Mitzschke, Andreas (Maastricht University): Temporal imaginaries & contested futures: normativity,community, and modernity in India's GM crops debate.Lösch, Andreas, Reinhard Heil, Christoph Schneider (ITAS/Karlsruhe Institute of Technology): Visionsas socioepistemic practices shaping the present.Part II: Sociotechnical futures in different processes of changeBischof, Andreas (Institute for Media Research/Technical University of Chemnitz): The origins andimplications of "future" in robotics research.Doezema, Tess (School for the Future of Innovation in Society/Arizona State University): Globalizingtechnologies: Geopolitical innovation in the U.S. bioeconomy.3Ferrari, Arianna / Silvia Woll, Inge Böhm (ITAS/Karlsruhe Institute of Technology): Visions of In vitromeat (IVM): Shaping the future of food.Meyer, Uli (Munich Center for Technology in Society/Technical University of Munich): The enactmentand institutionalization of sociotechnical futures. The case of "Industrie 4.0" in Germany.Part III: Sociotechnical Futures in Technology Assessment, Foresight and GovernanceYoshizawa, Go (Osaka University): Reflexive hermeneutics against closing down TA discourses: A caseof synthetic biology.Olson, Nasrine (University of Borås) / Jan Nolin (Swedish School of Library and Information Science):The Naming of the beast: A critique of visions of technological rich futures.Späth, Philipp (Institute of Environmental Social Sciences and Geography/University of Freiburg): Thesmart city ideal Why it is shaping practices of urban governance in Germany only to a limitedextent.Withycombe Keeler, Lauren / Cynthia, Selin (School for the Future of Innovation in Society & Schoolof Sustainability, Arizona State University): Scenarios as intervention in sociotechnical systems:Foresight, sustainability and responsible innovation..Part IV: White paper on technology assessment and sociotechnical futuresLösch, Andreas / Knud Böhle, Christopher Coenen, Paulina Dobroc, Arianna Ferrari, Armin GrunwaldReinhard Heil, Dirk Hommrich, Martin Sand, Christoph Schneider, Stefan Aykut, Sascha Dickel,Daniela Fuchs, Bruno Gransche, Alexandra Hausstein, Karen Kastenhofer, Kornelia Konrad, AlfredNordmann, Petra SchaperRinkel, Dirk Scheer, Ingo SchulzSchaeffer, Helge Torgersen and AlexanderWentland: Technology Assessment of sociotechnical futures a discussion paper.