Issues

We currently focus on four main issues: disarmament and security, climate change and energy, questions of who controls science and technology and issues surrounding new and emerging technologies. You will also see that we work on some other issues too. You can explore these with the menu on the left of this page and with the search function. Material in this section includes all SGR's main outputs since 2005, with a selection of the more important material from before then.

Energy conserving buildings – the human factor

With energy use in buildings being a major contributor to carbon emissions, reducing that energy use is a goal that is gaining considerable support. However, Genevieve Jones, SGR, argues that if there is too much focus on using technology to achieve that goal, and not enough on considering human behaviour, energy use may actually be increased rather than reduced.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 14 December 2011)
 

SGR signs open letter on NATO Missile Defense plans and the increased risk of nuclear war

Open letter to President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev, 13 December 2011
 

Emerging technologies and risk: the social, cultural and political dimensions (Dec 2011)

Dr Bronislaw Szerszynski, Lancaster University, argues that when it comes to new technologies, technical risk assessment is not enough.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 6 December 2011)
 

European security research – it is time for change

Martina Weitsch, QCEA, shows how arms companies – including those from Israel – have obtained public EU research funds, despite military research being specifically excluded from the formal R&D framework.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 6 December 2011)
 

The impact of university research: public or private good?

Philip Moriarty, University of Nottingham, asks whether the practices now followed by UK research councils are doing little more than enabling the government’s policy to further commercialise academic research.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 6 December 2011)
 

The Luddite uprisings – lessons for technology politics now

It is 200 years since the Luddite uprisings in northern England. David King, Human Genetics Alert, argues that the motivations of the Luddites have been misrepresented, and that we need to look again at their legacy.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 6 December 2011)
 

Climate change and weather disasters

Presentation by Stuart Parkinson, SGR, at the Climate Justice conference, Institute of Education, London

12 November 2011
 

Why we must prepare for a low energy society

Mandy Meikle suggests that the focus on a low carbon future, rather than a low energy society, is sending us down the wrong path.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 26 October 2011)
 

War in Libya – the role of the arms and oil industries

The UK and other NATO countries claim they took military action in Libya for humanitarian reasons. Stuart Parkinson, SGR, asks whether the situation was really that simple.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 26 October 2011)

 

Millennium Consumption Goals: guiding the rich to contribute to sustainability

Mohan Munasinghe, Munasinghe Institute for Development, recently proposed a progressive development concept at the UN, that would mirror the Millennium Development Goals for the poor with a complementary set of targets for the rich, enabling them to contribute towards sustainable development.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 40, autumn 2011 (published online 26 October 2011)