Autonomy, Heteronomy and Shared Governance: The Governance and Innovation of Contemporary Science and Technology

Social Sciences in China Review

No.4, 2018

Autonomy, Heteronomy and Shared Governance: The Governance and Innovation of Contemporary Science and Technology (Abstract)

Zhao Wanli

Contemporary science and technology have both the features of autonomy and publicity, with former presenting itself as a relatively independent autonomous system while the latter making social governance of science and technology possible. Each feature has its own inner logic. The national innovation system needs to start from the three aspects of system boundary, system regulation and negotiation network to construct a balanced governance structure of benign interaction between science and technology and society. Keeping a necessary tension between the autonomy and publicity of science and technology and building stable and balanced interactive relations and structural systems between science and government and between the market and the public is the key to achieving good governance of science and technology.