Development, Modernity and Nanotechnology: The Challenges Of a Time

This paper aims to raise some thoughts on the present time and the relationship between modernity, environment and development, starting from some questions: If we continue to follow the current economic model, of neverending development and capital expansion, what awaits for us? Is there a future? Will the human species take part in it? How to divert the course of this rudderless ship guided by a commandant called Progress? In search of clues that point to the possible answers, we walk at some tracks left in late 1960s and early 1970s, by Josué de Castro, on the changes that had already been felt in his time and the threat that hovered in the world due to environment imbalances arising from the development model based in the expansionary logic of capital, the rampant belief in science and technology, then to reflect on the reality of our time and the progress and achievements in the field of science and technology, and the challenges we face against the advance of new technologies - and this is the case of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is a technology that can have and already has numerous applications. It's, in the point of view of the market, a safe investment for the future. In this sense, we must discuss the ethical and legal issues that should regulate the use of nanotechnology. There is no certainty about the possible impacts that the use of nanotechnology may have, regarding the health of people and the environment. This paper is the result of the research "Nanotechnology applied to food and biofuels: recognizing the essential elements for the development of indicators of risk and regulatory frameworks that protect health and the environment" (898/2009), funded by CAPES, a government agency linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Education.