open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/47076

A Relation Between Information and Cultural Behavior: Examining the Birth of the Precautionary Approach

日本語

2006

情報文化学会

情報文化学会誌

13(2)

55-64

The central hypothesis in this paper concerns a relation between a culture and information; how wide recognition of lack of information central to a given culture leads to the replacement of a certain culturally framed behavioral pattern with a new one， Situated in multi-national cooperation for ap rotection ofthe North Sea，I explore how ac ulturally framed concept，the Precautionary Approach，came to substitute for the previous culture，which heavily relies on an assimilative capacity of the sea，a capacity to absorb and cleanse harmful materials，and thus allows dumping of wastes as default activities. Close examination of this notion， however，shows that the actual and precise quantification of the assimilative capacity has suffered from a lack of crucial information. For creating a shared framework for this problem，the paper further points out，three features of the International Conferences on the Protection of the North Sea have played important roles: science-based conclusions，national accountability，recognition of the North Sea as a common resource. In the light of these conferences，countries have adopted the Precautionary Approach，by which each country accepts that lack of information about the assimilative capacity requires culturally new attitudes and governmental behaviors based more on a realization of human ignorance.

学術雑誌論文

Version of Record

1340-6531