34/3 (2025) will be published in December 2025 with the Special topic

“In search of deeply sustainable technologies: Beyond extractivism, exploitation and exclusion”

The development and use of electric vehicles may be motivated by the good goal of advancing the energy transition in the Global North, but still disregard global human-ecological limits and values, for example, in terms of raw materials required for their production, resulting exploitation of humans and ecosystems in the Global South and geopolitical dependencies and conflicts. The production of renewable energy leads to land use conflicts in peripheral rural regions, particularly in the Global South. Generative artificial intelligence, although seemingly immaterial and artificial, has serious ecological and social downsides, e. g., in terms of energy and water consumption or the working conditions of so-called ‘clickworkers.’ These examples illustrate the material, immaterial, and geopolitical dimensions of socio-technical innovation in a ‘glocal’ world society.

Against this background, the forthcoming TATuP Special topic will address the question of whether and to what extent deeply sustainable socio-technical innovation is possible, and on which level or object TA should focus its search.

Special topic editors:

Karen Kastenhofer, Dr., Institute of Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, AT,
Astrid Schwarz, Prof. Dr., Chair of Technoscience Studies, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, DE,
Andrea Vetter, Dr., Chair of Sociology of Technology and the Environment, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, DE,
Krishna Ravi Srinivas, Dr., Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad; Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi, IN.

Publishing in TATuP: article submission online

Publish your research results in TATuP—Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice. We welcome a variety of text types like reviews, meeting reports, short essays, replicas or artistic perspectives regarding the topic of technology assessment. We don’t charge Author Processing Charges (APC).

Please submit your manuscript online: https://tatup.de/index.php/tatup/Submit

Podcast: TATuP Talks #2

In the second episode of TATuP Talks we talk with Prof. Dr. Cordula Kropp, Institute for Social Sciences, University of Stuttgart about the need for a material transition in architecture and construction and current challenges from the perspective of technology assessment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqaXo9O4Ro