ABSTRACT
This concluding chapter draws on discussions from elsewhere in the volume to further explore the relationship between expectations and experiences of forensic and biometric technology. The three-way framework of deficit, surfeit and social-realist discourses introduced in other parts of the volume is further advanced by reflecting on the technological developments which were addressed in Chapters 7 to 9. This chapter argues that these discourses underpin normative interpretations of forensic and biometric technology which represent co-existing and contending framings: either technologically determinist, epistemically cautious or co-productive. These normative interpretations are introduced in order to consider whether societies can reclaim technology and shape more accountable and socially just forms of forensic science and biometric systems. The chapter introduces the notion of the co-embedding of actors and imaginaries as a means of exploring opportunities for social science and particularly science and technology studies to intervene and re-imagine forensic and biometric technology.
