Institutional Interpretation of Participatory TA:A Framework for Studying the Danish Board of Technology

Abstract

This article discusses why and how the history and the current state of participatory technology assessment (referred to as pTA; not to be confuse with PTA, which stands for parliamentary TA), especially in Denmark, may be understood in terms of institutionalization. The core argument is that while pTA has emerged as a practice within institutions for parliamentary technology assessment (referred to as PTA), the local logics structuring PTA institutions do not necessarily explain the institutional role of pTA practices. To grasp these practices appropriately, a broader framework may be needed. The aim of the article is thus to relate the challenges of establishing and continuing pTA as a societal practice to the question of societal institutions and their logics. Towards this aim, the paper draws on a number of different theoretical directions within New Institutionalism and attempts to build a generic conceptual framework, which may relevantly add to the understanding of the multiple institutional logics at play in and around pTA practices. The usefulness of this generic framework will first and foremost be to function as a platform for empirical research in the field. An overarching goal of developing the framework, however, will be to serve as a conceptual resource for the long-term strategic outlooks of organizational entrepreneurs working to establish or continue pTA practices within STI policy-making