Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Objects like computers and smartphones are so 'normal' for most of us that we tend to use them without ever critically questioning them. But when controversies relating technological objects like these — or other things that have to do with science and technology — arise, the actors that are involved with these objects and related subjects are compelled to share information about them and make their perspectives explicit. That's why, according to dr. Tommaso Venturini, "moments of controversy" yield perfect opportunities for researchers to investigate objects and subjects in their full complexity, and subsequently uncover knowledge about social issues that would normally remain invisible.
In their book Controversy Mapping: A Field Guide, Venturini and dr. Anders Kristian Munk explain what the method of 'controversy mapping' entails, how students and academics can identify controversies that are suitable to map, and which steps they must take to actually do this successfully.
Objects like computers and smartphones are so 'normal' for most of us that we tend to use them without ever critically questioning them. But when controversies relating technological objects like these — or other things that have to do with science and technology — arise, the actors that are involved with these objects and related subjects are compelled to share information about them and make their perspectives explicit. That's why, according to dr. Tommaso Venturini, "moments of controversy" yield perfect opportunities for researchers to investigate objects and subjects in their full complexity, and subsequently uncover knowledge about social issues that would normally remain invisible.
In their book Controversy Mapping: A Field Guide, Venturini and dr. Anders Kristian Munk explain what the method of 'controversy mapping' entails, how students and academics can identify controversies that are suitable to map, and which steps they must take to actually do this successfully.
