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Nanotechnology and the Poor: Opportunities and Risks for Developing Countries

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Book cover Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development

Part of the book series: Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society ((YNTS,volume 2))

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Abstract

Among the high hopes surrounding nanotechnology is the hope that it will solve a number of pressing problems in developing countries. The counterpoint to that hope is the fear of a nano-divide—benefits accruing only in the global North. This volume has already included several references to possible disparities, in Foladori and Zayago Lau’s discussion of workers, Harsh’s portrayal of decision processes in Kenya, and the reprinted article on regulation of nanotechnology in Uganda that closed the last section. This chapter charts the issues involved in a more comprehensive way.

This chapter was originally published in Frtiz Allhoff and Patrick Lin (eds.), Nanotechnology & Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues. Dordrecht: Springer, 2008, pp. 243-263. Reprinted with permission from Springer.

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Barker, T.F., Fatehi, L., Lesnick, M.T., Mealey, T.J., Raimond, R.R. (2010). Nanotechnology and the Poor: Opportunities and Risks for Developing Countries. In: Cozzens, S., Wetmore, J. (eds) Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development. Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9615-9_17

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