Canadian Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy : The Innovation Economy and Society Nexus

An extensive and in-depth account and explanation of Canada’s changing policies for science, technology, and innovation. "Awkward Politics presents a new theoretical and methodological framework for examining popfeminist work. The authors work to explore how contemporary popfeminism attempts to better connect with the recipient and reflect unstable political climates, particularly focusing on the German cultural context. Looking at many examples from today's pop culture all over the world, Smith-Prei and Stehle suggest that awkwardness within feminist activism is often the product of unclear political positioning, further enabled by both the performative aspects of activism and the digital medium through which it is primarily dispersed. This work examines the intersections of technology, consumerism, and the political in popfeminist work. In a nutshell, Awkward Politics argues that transnational digital technologies have increased the impact of feminist activism but that these new media have complicated audience's ability to engage with feminist actions. To quote the author: "While digital technology's transnational reach and temporal immediacy has broadened the potential impact of feminist activism, it has also complicated the materiality of feminist work as well as muddied the line between engagement with and consumption of activist actions. Our book harnesses this confusion in an exploration of awkwardness as a theoretical tool for intervention. We suggest that awkwardness is a political emotion that offers a way of engaging with the transnational circulation of feminist activism today that accounts for and harnesses the messy conveyance of meaning as the digital meets the material (...) We suggest that theorizing the awkward can get at the complicated meanings and unstable positions of the political in popfeminist work." The book aims to highlight the urgency of feminist political issues and activism and begins with a brief historical overview before delving into topical discussion of recent movements (Riot Grrl, Pussy Riot, Flash mobs, One Billion Rising, Slut Walks) and analysis of popfeminist activism in a digital era."-- Provided by publisher Canadian Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy presents new critical analysis about related developments in the field such as significantly changed concepts of peer review, merit review, the emergence of big data in the digital age, and the rise of an economy and society dominated by the internet and information. The authors scrutinize the different ways in which federal and provincial policies have impacted both levels of government, including how such policies impact on Canada's natural resources. They also study key government departments and agencies involved with science, technology, and innovation to show how these organizations function increasingly in networks and partnerships, as Canada seeks to keep up and lead in a highly competitive global system. The book also looks at numerous realms of technology across Canada in universities, business, and government and various efforts to analyze biotechnology, genomics, and the Internet, as well as earlier technologies such as nuclear reactors, and satellite technology. The authors assess whether a science-and-technology-centred innovation economy and society has been established in Canada – one that achieves a balance between commercial and social objectives, including the delivery of public goods and supporting values related to redistribution, fairness, and community and citizen empowerment. Probing the nature of science advice across prime ministerial eras, including recent concerns over the Harper government's claimed muzzling of scientists in an age of attack politics, Canadian Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy provides essential information for academics and practitioners in business and government in this crucial and complex field. "Throughout Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy in Canada since 1960, authors Doern, Castle, and Phillips examine Canadian science and technology (S & T) and innovation policy (STI policy), governance and democracy in the post-World War II era--particularly focusing on the five decades during the Harper, Chrétien-Martin, Mulroney, and Trudeau prime-ministerial eras. They attempt to develop and advance the concept of an innovation economy and society nexus and understand whether, and to what extent, the current concerns raised about Canadian STI policy are new, or are embedded and long-standing, and whether they can be changed and reformed to achieve other, more defensible goals in private markets and the public domain. Doern, Castle, and Phillips focus their investigation on three principal questions: 1) How, why, and to what extent Canadian S & T and innovation policy, governance, and democracy have changed over the last 50 years, 2) Where S & T and innovation policy resided in Canadian federal political and policy agendas across the last 50 years, and 3) How concepts of science-based governance prevailed or been changed across the last several decades."-- Provided by publisher Cover Copyright Contents Chart and Tables Abbreviations and Acronyms Preface Introduction and Analytical Framework PART ONE Conceptual Foundations and Historical Context 1 Conceptual Foundations 2 Canadian S&T and Innovation Policy and Agendas in Liberal and Conservative Prime Ministerial Eras 3 Canada-US and International STI Policy and Institutions PART TWO Empirical Analysis of S&T and Innovation Policy Domains 4 The Macro S&T and Innovation Policy Domain 5 The Government S&T Departments and Agencies Domain 6 The Granting, University, and Levered-Money Domain 7 The Industrial S&T and Innovation Domain 8 The Intellectual Property, Invention, and Innovation Domain 9 The Agriculture, Food, Biosciences, and Biotechnology Domain 10 The Genomics, Life Sciences, and Technology Domain 11 The Internet, Communications, and Social Media Domain PART THREE Conclusions 12 Canadian STI Policy: The Innovation Economy and Society Nexus Postscript: The New Justin Trudeau Liberal Government References Index