Studying the emergence of a new social representation: Changes in thinking about nanotechnologies in early 21st-century Italy

We investigated the emergence of a new social representation (SR) of a techno\u2010scientific innovation\u2014nanotechnologies\u2014among the Italian public. We reviewed how nanotechnologies entered parliamentary debates and the media agenda in the early third millennium. We conducted cross\u2010sectional surveys in 2006 (N = 246) and 2011 (N = 486) to examine the emerging SR of nanotechnologies. We sought to observe processes of anchoring and objectification \u2018in action\u2019, by analyzing roles of (i) social groups, and (ii) neighboring SRs of science and of technology, over time. Several changes from 2006 to 2011 were identified: From a \u2018descriptive\u2019 to an \u2018evaluative\u2019 approach; from a \u2018neutral\u2019 to a \u2018controversial\u2019 issue; from a \u2018concrete\u2019 to an \u2018abstract\u2019 object; and from a \u2018technological\u2019 to a \u2018scientific\u2019 phenomenon. We conclude that nanotechnologies finally became \u2018relevant enough\u2019 by 2011 to be considered a proper object of SR, and an emerging SR can be observed