Abstract

GOMEZ GONZALEZ, Francisco Javier; MENDIZABAL, Guillermo Aleixandre; CACERES GOMEZ, Santiago  and  DURLAN, Cristina. The electronics as a silent catastrophe: from exceptionalism to the social impact assessment of technology. Rev. iberoam. cienc. tecnol. soc. [online]. 2014, vol.9, n.25, pp.181-203. ISSN 1850-0013.

The analysis of technological disasters represents an important line of work within the social thought. Traditionally there has been more emphasis on disasters that have great presence in mass media (nuclear accidents or leakages of polluting substances), especially because of their magnitude, the characteristics of their effects and their immediate impact on citizens. Alongside these disasters, that we could call exceptional, there are other disasters that have more silent effects because of their distribution throughout extended periods of time or their less immediate seriousness, but that constitute a significant cumulative impact, something that can be evidenced in the electronics sector. This paper reflects on the need to deepen the analysis of this latter type of disasters, which could be called silent disasters, and highlights the utility that the use of social impact assessment of technological projects can bring to the table as a tool to address the analysis of this specific type of disasters

Keywords : Technological disaster; Disaster exceptional silent disaster; Social impact assessment of technology.

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