Mindful anticipation: a practice approach to the study of expectations in emerging technologies

New technologies exist first only as semi-magic speculations of possible and potential futures. The construction of these futures lies in practices through which the relations between technology and society are embodied and shaped. Often, these practices remain unnoticed –mindless- overviewing the key decisions that are made in the present in the name of the future. This PhD thesis explores how these “anticipatory practices” constitute the futures of two emerging technologies: graphene and 3D printing. Working from a Science and Technology Studies and Governance perspective, the author proposes a framework to think – mindfully- how collective and implicit decisions made in the present matter for our shared future.