Page 106 - Demo

Chapter 5104and circulation of specific visualisations in a particular political context (Kasra, 2017; Metze, 2018b). By conceptually developing a particular form of circulation and integrating it with other circulation forms, and by exploring how the meaning of visualisations changes when they circulate, this paper adds to this literature a comprehensive and refined conceptual approach to circulation and an innovative method that leads to rich empirical illustration.During circulation and over time, a visualisation’s meaning may change (Hand, 2016; Niederer & Colombo, 2019; Schneider & Nocke, 2014). The meaning change can be associated with a change in the context in which a visualisation is used (Schneider & Nocke, 2014, p. 17) and is especially important in online interactions about policy issues. In this interaction, a change in a visualisation’s meaning can result from a negotiation between actors (Rojas-Padilla et al., 2022), and this calls for an awareness of that change.This paper focuses on the circulation of digital visualisations of nanotechnology in food and food packaging (referred to here as nanotechnology in food). Nanotechnology in food is a debated emerging field that presents promises as well as concerns (Finglas et al., 2014; te Kulve et al., 2013). Current and prospective nanotechnology-based applications are, for example, nanocapsulated active ingredients that remain stable and protected until released in a targeted place in the body, and active and intelligent packaging that, e.g., detects pathogens or improves the packaged food (Handford et al., 2014; Henchion et al., 2019). These innovations and other nanotechnology-based innovations have far-reaching implications for the entire food system (Handford et al., 2014). They can greatly improve food quality, quantity, and safety, and can fundamentally contribute to human health, and more generally to a more efficient and sustainable food system (Chaudhry et al., 2017; Handford et al., 2014; Henchion et al., 2019). However, nanotechnology-based food applications are associated with knowledge gaps, potential risks to human health and the environment, and safety concerns (Chaudhry et al., 2017; Handford et al., 2014; Henchion et al., 2019). This has made the development of nanotechnology-based food applications significantly dependent on the consumer response that has played a key role at least since the mid-2000s (Fischer et al., 2013; Frewer et al., 2014; Steenis & Fischer, 2016). In the study of consumer response to contested technologies, nanotechnology is one of Efrat.indd 104 19-09-2023 09:47