ABSTRACT
The eventual performance and application of emerging technologies such as nanotechnology is uncertain, and their further effects on society are even more uncertain. While aspects of the division of moral labour in the nanotechnology world can be criticized, the solution is not to dispense with the division of moral labour. The ‘real’ world is full of references to accepted and/or desired roles and responsibilities of various actors. The various actors involved fall back on their own positions and what they see as their ‘mandate’ to justify their visions and actions. In the real world, ethical reflexivity of actors is caught between individual agency and institutional role. Interestingly, the industrialists’ view of the role of non-governmental organizations referred to a division of moral labour, starting with a practical observation. Division of moral labour is a general phenomenon in our society. Actually, one sees the opening up of existing divisions of moral labour in a number of ways.
