Munich Colloquium – Brice Laurent

European Objects. The Troubled Dreams of Harmonization.

We are delighted to announce the next Munich Colloquium on Technology in Society. On Tuesday, 3 July, Brice Laurent will give a talk on “European Objects. The Troubled Dreams of Harmonization.“ 5:00 pm, TUM School of Education, Marsstr. 20 – 22, Panorama Deck, Room 607

Brice Laurent’s work focuses on the relationships between the making of science and the construction of democratic order. Using an approach based on Science and Technology Studies, his work analyzes the devices that connect research programs, the making of technical objects and the production of various types of publics. The overall objective is to study the formation of political spaces through the analysis of sites (within regulatory, standardization or expertise arenas) where scientific objectivity and democratic legitimacy are questioned. Brice Laurent graduated from the Ecole des Mines and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He is a State engineer and teaches at Sciences Po Paris. In 2008, he joined the Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation where he wrote his dissertation on nanotechnology (Democracies on trial. Assembling nanotechnology and its problems). In this work, the problematization of nanotechnology in Europe and the United-States, in places such as science museums, public debates or regulatory arenas, appears as a trial for contemporary democracies.

The Munich Colloquium on Technology in Society is designed as a series of public lectures. These lectures will be held by defining figures in the area of Science and Technology Studies and explore key issues on the crossroads of science, knowledge, technology, and social life.

We look forward to welcoming you!