Rob Flynn

Risk and the Public Acceptance of New Technologies

Our everyday world is constantly changing. Economic growth, globalisation and the continuous development of technology ensure that in all aspects of our lives — foodstuffs, energy, clothing, transport, health, employment, leisure, etc — established practices and equipment rapidly become obsolete and there are relentless pressures to innovate and ‘modernise’. In the majority of cases, these processes are driven by the capitalist market, as producers seek to shape consumer demand and as entrepreneurs champion new products and services. Part of the in-built dynamic of modern capitalism is that it is a profit-driven ‘growth machine’ characterised by perpetual technological innovation (Saunders, 1995). Such innovation consists of attempts to minimise or avoid technical problems with current machines and systems, and/or to increase cost efficiency, and/or to achieve radical breakthroughs to introduce completely new devices and methods. The shifts from coal to steam power, the availability of electricity, the evolution of motor vehicles and then air transport, the adoption of nuclear energy, the advance of computers and digital telecommunications, and new biotechnology industries are only a few illustrations of the fundamental transformations which have occurred in a relatively short historical period.

Contracts and the Quasi-market in Community Health Services

In the NHS quasi-market, contracts are the crucial mechanism through which purchasers influence providers of health care. Most attention has been given to the commissioning and contracting process in acute hospital services. However, there is another important but neglected sector of health care – community health services (CHS) – in which the specification and implementation of contracts is particularly difficult. In this article, three dimensions of contracting are analysed, illustrated by qualitative evidence from case studies, concerning: the measurement of activity; the estimation of costs and prices; and the monitoring of outcomes and quality. This article argues that community health services are intrinsically problematic within the quasi-market, and suggests that the nature of the services and the system of delivery militate against provider competition. It is argued that CHS have more in common with ‘clans’ and ‘networks’ rather than markets and hierarchies, and that this requires collaborative rather than adversarial relationships between purchasers and providers.

The ‘value-action gap’ in public attitudes towards sustainable energy: the case of hydrogen energy

There is now increasing evidence that the public has become much more aware of global warming, climate change and environmental risks. This has been repeatedly demonstrated in a number of official surveys and other research. However, the salience of these issues varies; for some social groups, there are other more significant problems and urgent priorities. It has also been found that while expressing strong beliefs about the negative consequences of global warming, or dependence on fossil fuels, or more positive approval of alternative and renewable energy sources, people do not seem to have translated those opinions into practical actions to limit their energy use in their domestic consumption, lifestyles, or travel patterns, for example. It is this apparent ‘discrepancy’ between stated beliefs (and values) and behaviour, which comprises the so-called ‘value-action gap’. Various writers have observed this in different contexts previously, as will be discussed below. In this chapter, we examine the importance of the value-action gap in relation to hydrogen energy and the emerging hydrogen economy. Qualitative and quantitative data are presented from a series of focus groups and a telephone questionnaire survey of selected samples in seven different areas of England and Wales. The chapter first gives a very brief outline of the nature of hydrogen energy and its potential uses as an innovative technology. Secondly, it reviews selected literature about public attitudes towards environmental and energy issues and the apparent valueaction gap. Findings from our recent research are then discussed. Finally, some general conclusions are offered to account for the ambivalence revealed in this case of hydrogen energy, and the disjunction between people’s awareness of an energy crisis and their reluctance to change behaviour.

Political Acquiescence, Privatisation and Residualisation in British Housing Policy

This paper examines some of the social and political implications of retrenchment and privatisation in British housing policy. It reviews arguments and evidence about residualisation in the housing market, the effects of consumption sectoral cleavages, and attitudinal ambivalence to welfare, in an attempt to understand the apparent absence of discontent about inequalities in housing. It is argued that recent trends have exacerbated social fragmentation and reinforced tendencies to political acquiescence.

Environmental citizenship and public attitudes to hydrogen energy technologies

Some of the principal arguments in the debate about environmental citizenship are examined with reference to the development of hydrogen energy systems. In particular, qualitative evidence is drawn from a study of public attitudes towards hydrogen energy technologies and their perceived risks and benefits. Using data from focus groups in three areas of the UK, it is argued that while there is awareness of the importance of energy issues, opinions about innovation using hydrogen are generally neutral, and there is little indication of the collective and solidaristic values said to characterise environmental citizenship.

Stakeholders’ and Publics’ Perceptions of Hydrogen Energy Technologies

Hydrogen energy is not new science but remains a prospective technology. It is relatively unknown to the public. It might substitute for petroleum and natural gas in powering transport and in heating houses, offices, factories and public buildings. How might potential end-users react to its introduction? How do those who already have a stake in developing the technology at local level envisage its future?

The transition to hydrogen‐based energy: combining technology and risk assessments and lay perspectives

Purpose – The paper attempts to highlight and discuss the limitations of the current discourse around the role of hydrogen‐based energy in a more sustainable future.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon preliminary findings from qualitative fieldwork in three case studies. Focus groups were conducted with members of the public in three different areas of the UK where hydrogen projects are being planned and/or developed. Findings are connected to evidence gathered in other similar studies addressing the relationship between publics and new technologies.Findings – In the case of hydrogen energy and its role in a future economy, questions about safety were present but did not dominate the debate. Participants in our focus groups were not only concerned about the technical and economic aspects of hydrogen technologies, but they also wanted to understand what hydrogen as an energy carrier and fuel would mean for them and in their daily lives; whether it would deliver the promise of realising a bet...

Paradoxes of GP fundholding : Contracting for community health services in the British National Health Service

The expansion of GP fundholding (GPFH) is central to the British governments attempt to maintain the revolution under way in the National Health Service (NHS). Evaluations of the NHS reforms have portrayed GPFH as an important mechanism for competition, and GPFHs bargaining power is reported to have secured significant changes in health service provision. However, these developments have been acknowledged to be less applicable in relation to community health services (CHS) than acute hospital services. On the basis of case studies of the process of contracting for CHS, GPFHs are shown to display ambivalent and sometimes contradictory views which have to be related to broader policy developments in general practice and primary care. Although this paper focuses on the British situation, many of the issues raised by reforms in primary and community health services have implications for developments in other Western health care systems.

Quasi‐welfare, associationalism and the social division of citizenship

It is widely acknowledged that in many advanced capitalist societies, the role and structure of the welfare state has undergone substantial changes in recent decades. Arguments continue about the precise causes, and about the trajectory and impact of those changes. One particular strand in the debate has concerned the nature of the transformation of the welfare state in relation to the wider economy, and whether these changes reflect a ‘post‐Fordist’ welfare regime; while another important theme concerns the consequences of cultural and social differentiation, and the extent to which ‘postmodernism’ entails a fundamental dissolution of conventional assumptions about social policy. Radical reconstruction of the institutions, and questioning of the functions of welfare states, are resulting in more complex and heterogeneous patterns of social provision. At the same time, increased theoretical emphasis on, and popular demand for, choice, consumerism and diversity represent a significant challenge to, and per...

The Mirage of Citizen Engagement in Uncertain Science: Public attitudes towards hydrogen energy

This paper addresses some of the debates about citizen involvement in decisions about science and technological innovation. It describes some of the claims and scientific uncertainties surrounding hydrogen energy. It examines qualitative evidence from a series of recent case studies in the UK about public perceptions of hydrogen. It is shown that public attitudes towards citizen engagement are highly ambivalent. While citizens approve of greater consultation, they raise doubts about the degree to which laypersons can be mobilised to participate in public debates, they express contradictory views about their trust in experts, and they are sceptical about whether such involvement will influence policy. These findings add further questions about the efficacy of upstream public engagement in assessments of emergent or novel technologies. They also suggest that over-optimistic expectations about upstream engagement may have to be moderated.