Publics and their participation in science and technology: changing roles, blurring boundaries

Configuring the place and roles of publics and the nature of participation in the context of science-and-society relations has continued to preoccupy academics, policy actors, stakeholder organisations and publics themselves. Examining the place of public participation within the increasingly complex worlds of governance offers one realm of understanding. At the same time, the world of the everyday has seen publics engage with science and technology in different ways, combining a panoply of roles of citizen, consumer, user, or even disinterested bystander.