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This dissertation consists of three essays each of which revolves around a group of environmental engineers/scientists who have a different vision of how science should be done and who are seeking to work side-by-side with non-scientific partners to find alternative pollution prevention strategies and technologies. Their goal is to address environmental and social problems by "democratizing" science and redefining expert-lay collaboration so as to involve all participants in the design and application of ecologically friendly technologies and pollution prevention strategies. These scientists and engineers, who call themselves the "Learning Alliance," reflect a trend that researchers in the area of the social study of science and technology call a shift from Mode 1 to Mode 2 science. The first essay focuses on how the Learning Alliance attempts to enact Mode 2 science. I present an ethnographic study that analyzes how the Learning Alliance goes about establishing the kind of collaboration with end-users on which their vision of science depends. I show that successful negotiations between the Learning Alliance and a particular corporate group of end-users with whom they were working took place only after a series of failed attempts. I argue that both the failures and the successful project they were finally able to establish, can be explained in terms of what Learning Alliance learned about the prerequisites for successful collaborations. More specifically, using social worlds theory and the concept of boundary objects, I make the case that only once effective boundary objects are found can lines of action between social actors in different social worlds be fit together. In the second essay I draw parallels between the emergence of a Mode 2 model of science and debates within sociology about the need to move towards a public sociology, that is, a sociology that is more socially engaged. I discuss how the demands of a more publicly oriented sociology presented itself as a dilemma in my own research and how this ultimately led to both a repositioning of myself as an analyst and a re-negotiated relationship with the Learning Alliance I was studying. The third essay serves as an example of the kind of product that can result when sociologists step outside of their role as detached observers of the groups they study and instead, collaborate with those groups in promoting their collective agendas. The essay is a paper I wrote together with a member of the Learning Alliance. The paper deals with the question of how to involve end-users in all phases of technological development within water and sanitation sectors. The paper builds on the trading zone metaphor frequently used in the sociology of science to explain expert-lay collaborative ventures. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation presents the case for a normative vision of the relationship between technical experts and other non-expert members of a democratic citizenry. This vision is grounded in two key insights that have emerged from the field of science and technology studies. First, is the "third wave" science studies movement that identifies problems of expertise as the "pressing intellectual problem of the age." Characterized by the problems of legitimacy and extension, Collins and Evans build the case for the extension of the category of expertise to include those who have the relevant experience but lack relevant accreditation. Alongside this extension of the category of expertise is the extension of those who participate in the framing of techno-scientific issues. This dissertation builds a case for the inclusion of all democratic citizens in the problem framing process. What we are left with from the current "third wave" literature is a multi-tiered prescription for the role of non-experts in public decision-making about science and technology. On the ground floor, when the issue is being framed there is a need to include non-expert stakeholders (in theory, any concerned democratic citizen). Once a framing of the problem has been constructed, there is a need to recognize a larger category of people who count as "expert." Together, these constitute the two most powerful prescriptive elements of expertise developed in the recent science studies literature. The dissertation then explores claims that it is specifically "deliberative" theories of democracy that are best suited to make sense out of this democratization of expertise. After presenting a typology of deliberative theories of democracy that clears up a serious problem of equivocation found in appeals to deliberative democracy in current STS literature, this dissertation argues that only a specific set of deliberative theories of democracy, "discursive" deliberative theories of democracy, are capable of fulfilling the role theories of deliberative democracy are assigned in current STS literature. The dissertation then goes on to suggest how these new insights into the democratization of expertise might affect future instantiations of technology assessment mechanisms (such as the office of Technology Assessment) in the U.S. / Ph. D.

The world is currently going through the fourth industrial revolution, otherwise called Industry4.0. New technologies are constantly emerging, bringing innovative solutions, but also challenges. Since it is a global event, governments and organizations need to address them and decide how to proceed and adapt. Can industry 4.0 enable a more sustainable future? Certainly, if used correctly. However, most of the time, changes are met with resistance, especially such big ones. In times of uncertainty, people need trust and support. Despite bringing these challenges, industry 4.0 also means opportunities, especially for organizations which have to find new ways to stay competitive and sustainable simultaneously. In organizations, various processes can be improved thanks to industry 4.0. How? Crucial aspects are clear communication and good teamwork. This paper discusses what models of teamwork and communication, leaders can follow to achieve team goals and assure the organization’s success. The presented study case is IKEA, where it was investigated democratizing 3D technologies can enable improvements. This thesis results in the proposal of MatLib, a material sample library, where physical prototyping meets virtual reality. The idea of MiLAb, combining traditional and newest technologies to enable better communication and teamwork, should be only an example of new ways of thinking and tackling upcoming innovations.

The key approach of this thesis is to define closer discourse and importance of civic engagement in the media from the point of view of journalistic practice. This study examines trends of citizen journalism and community media that support active citizen participation and contribute to diversity of media content. The vision of traditional journalism disruption and enforcement of news agenda focusing on public interest became the key message of alternative media. The first two chapters concentrate on the origins of public interest involvement in the history of media discourse. They also highlight the alternative journalism characteristics, its current typology and the role of citizens supporting the concept of media democratization. They also specify the character of transformation of on-line professional journalism and its relationship to user-generated content in journalistic practices. Further four chapters determine specific demonstrations of citizen engagement in public media space and its concepts - public journalism, citizen journalism and community media. These chapters refer to characteristic of these phenonenons, they evaluate their contribution to the public life, concrete performance and practical applications abroad and in the Czech Republic. They also mention the key critical...

This paper deals with the process of “democratization” of higher education at the conservative modernization experience by Brazil in the current context. It aims to discuss the details given by the socio-economic situation and policy at the times of implementation of affirmative policies in Brazil, presenting them as access facilitation mechanisms that do not absorb the demand built historically. To this end, through perception analysis environment through the content contained in the 2004 Multi-Year Plan to 2007 and from 2008 to 2011 becomes important precisely because they present themselves as strategic mechanisms of the state to promove the development of the nation that moves thought the very process of democratization of access, be it done thought the HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) public or private. The idea, therefore, is to discuss the access according to the situation evidenced by the conservative modernization. Using the content analysis method comes to the conclusion , from the data collected from the Multi-annual plans and their evaluation reports, that the process of Access and expansion of higher education at the conservative modernization did not include democratic and unrestricted manner making , therefore , through the partnership arrangements between the public and private sectors. In this, insertion policies through the public sphere are ultimately limiting access while the type of cut constructed to have the right to student finance through private higher education institutions not build prejudiced aspect that the quots themselves can represent. / O presente trabalho versa sobre o processo de “democratização” do ensino superior ante a modernização conservadora vivenciada pelo Brasil no contexto atual. Ele tem como objetivo principal discutir os pormenores apresentados pela conjuntura socioeconômica e política à época da implantação das políticas afirmativas no Brasil, apresentando-as como mecanismos de facilitação do acesso que não absorvem a demanda construída historicamente. Para tanto, a percepção através da análise da conjuntura através do conteúdo contido nos Planos Plurianuais de 2004 a 2007 e de 2008 a 2011 torna-se importante justamente porque eles se apresentam como mecanismos estratégicos de Estado para promover o desenvolvimento da nação que perpassa pelo próprio processo de democratização do acesso, seja ele feito através das IES (Instituições de Ensino Superior) públicas ou privadas. A ideia, portanto, é discutir o acesso de acordo com a conjuntura evidenciada pela modernização conservadora. Utilizando-se do método de análise de conteúdo chega à conclusão, a partir dos dados coletados dos Planos Plurianuais e seus relatórios de avaliação, de que o processo de acesso e expansão do ensino superior ante a modernização conservadora não fez incluir de forma democrática e irrestrita, fazendo-se, portanto, através do regime de parceria entre os setores público e privado. Nisso, as políticas de inserção através da esfera pública terminam sendo limitadoras do acesso enquanto que o tipo de recorte construído para ter o direito ao financiamento estudantil através das instituições de ensino superior privadas não constrói o aspecto preconceituoso que as cotas em si podem representar.