A doctor of biology and a researcher in science and technology, Kastenhofer realized early on in her career through her research on genetic engineering - and the controversy surrounding it - that science and society sometimes need more than the opinions of experts alone.
Dr. Kastenhofer, how does one become a technology assessor at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, even though there is no training for it?
Karen Kastenhofer: I can only try to answer, but I think it is by never stopping to question things and seeing science as something that can and should be reflected upon. A certain interest in social problems and democratic policy issues is probably also part of it.
You have been at the ITA since 2007, how did you find your way around this mix of different disciplines and world views at the beginning?
Kastenhofer: I had so many questions (laughs). But I felt that I was in the right place and that here, technology research was a possible professional choice. Of course, we all had to find ways of working together and it was not always easy. My self-awareness as a technology assessment specialist also had to develop. I knew individual scientist from the ITA, but I still had to get to know the character of the institute. Suddenly, I was working under a new label. But what exactly was technology assessment (TA)? It was like jumping in at the deep end!
TA also deals with citizens' opinions on technology and actively provides policy advice.How do you make sure the advice is authentic?
Kastenhofer: Dealing with technology is so complex, we have to question so many things: How is technology made and what does technology do to us? How does technology affect our private spaces, how should politics deal with it? I see TA as having a responsibility here, regardless of whether a topic is currently "in" and heavily funded or not. Who has control over technological developments? What interests and values, what expertise flows into this? I want to use my experience to create spaces for honest debate.
You are a biologist.How did you find your way from nature to advanced technologies?
Kastenhofer: I started studying biology because I was fascinated by nature and considered it deeply worthy of protection. I collected mud from the seabed and tried to memorize Austria's 3,000 vascular plants. But very quickly that wasn't enough, because I had to realize that nature conservation needs more than just scientific expertise. If we as humans don't communicate with each other about possibilities, we can't protect nature either. And that's exactly what technology assessment is about - to say, technology has an impact on us, on the environment, on our health, on our coexistence, to ask what is needed for a responsible approach.
I then became increasingly involved with other branches of science, with interdisciplinary research and with the differences between scientific cultures. Social conflicts, in particular the controversy surrounding green genetic engineering, ultimately led me to technology research and TA: I was hired by the University of Augsburg for a project. The aim was to better explain how controversies about new technologies arise. How can it be that experts' opinions on certain topics are diametrically opposed? In the case of agricultural genetic engineering, for example, molecular biologists and organic biologists were at odds with each other. How can it be that no consensus is possible here? I was surprised to discover that conflicts over technology are often not about the technology itself, but about business models and the fear that global corporations and their lobbies will exert power over us.
Was the genetic engineering controversy the first technology conflict that you experienced first-hand?
Kastenhofer : I had a formative experience years earlier that influenced my entire career afterwards: as an idealistic young vegetation ecologist, I carried out field research for Natura 2000. My job was to travel through Austria and list biotopes worthy of protection. I was once sent to an orchid meadow by a biology teacher at the local school - but the local farmers had spontaneously mowed it and covered it with liquid manure. The fear of having new regulations imposed on them was overpowering. These people wanted to preserve the environment, but they didn't want to be told how to do it. That's when I realized how important social interaction and communication are. If we had been able to talk to the people there beforehand, we might have avoided this situation.
This experience made me want to look "behind the science". I then dedicated myself to interdisciplinary sustainability research and the sociology of science and, together with like-minded colleagues, put together my own study program, which was still possible in the 1990s with a little extra effort. We wanted to find ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration could function robustly. We also asked ourselves what kind of world view a university course gives you and what kind of value system. How do you integrate what you experience into your own identity as a person, as a researcher, as an expert?
What would you like to achieve for the ITA, or what is particularly important to you in your new role?
Kastenhofer: I see the role of the ITA as being at the cutting edge without being driven by apparent external constraints. Open questions about digitalization will keep us busy for a long time to come. The climate crisis is a necessary point of reference for practically all of our projects. We need quick but also wise decisions, scientific expertise, but also public understanding and democratic negotiation.
I am certainly not interested in explaining the world to the public. People have a good sense of what is actually at stake. We need to take this seriously and build on it. Technology design needs honesty and transparency, it needs mutual listening and joint discussion. And ultimately, conflicts and balancing of interests are also necessary. This is unpleasant, but it cannot be avoided. TA therefore not only needs scientific expertise, but also committed citizens and strong democracies. The one is actually unthinkable without the other. I see it as my job to play a constructive role in this process.
Bio Karen Kastenhofer
Karen Kastenhofer, born in Vienna in 1974 and raised in Lower Austria, has been working at the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in the field of "Governance of Controversial Technologies" since 2007. She is a founding member of the Austrian Association for Science and Technology Studies (STS Austria) and a member of the editorial board of "TATuP - Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis." On June 1, she replaced data protection expert and ITA founding member Walter Peissl as ITA's Deputy Director.
Links
ITA projects
New applications of genetic engineering in animals, algae and microorganisms
5G and health
From 'natural philosophy' to 'life science'
TEK - Techno-epistemic cultures of the life sciences
SYNENERGENE