Nanotech traveling abroad: The international dimension of nanotechnology as a changing concept – A guest editorial

The establishment of nanotechnology across commercial markets, technology sectors, and policy arenas has been accompanied by the spread of nanotechnology-related activities in many countries, far beyond the institutional and cultural context from which it originated. This special issue examines this international dimension of nanotechnology by focusing on three areas where diverse international trends in research and development, economic policy, regulation, and communication interact with local (sometimes alternative) initiatives, imaginaries, and cultures. These interactions shape specific and original local/international junctions of nanotechnology development and give specific and variable meanings to its international dimension. Policy-making, research practices, and media discourses are the three areas that this collection of papers helps to explore. The articles provide national case studies from Brazil, Canada, Italy, and Mexico; and examine the development of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) laboratories as examples of these interactive processes.