TATuP 35/2 (2026) will be published in July 2026 with the Special topic

“Exploring technologies through imaginary worlds: At the intersection of science fiction & technology assessment”

We live in a time of rapid scientific and technological advancement, encompassing fields ranging from artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and nanotechnology to climate or geoengineering. These emerging sciences and technologies come with the promise of changing our world in unprecedented ways and creating new situations for our everyday life. Technology assessment (TA), which has played an important role in guiding the development of emerging technologies and providing knowledge for decision-makers since the 1970s, is particularly challenged to anticipate and explore the new situations that may arise from technological progress.

The literary genre of science fiction (SF) anticipates the concern about how humans adapt to and deal with the novel situations brought about by emerging and fictional technological advancements. It is on this intersection between SF and TA that the focus of this TATuP Special topic is set.

With the TATuP Special topic on Exploring technologies through imaginary worlds, we aim to better understand and exploit the potential of using SF as a genre, heuristic, unique epistemology, source of knowledge, or method for TA and to highlight the theoretical and practical intersections of both worlds.

Special topic editors: