This Special Issue was selected by a dedicated ESHS committee after a public call for special issues. Abstract As technologies of ocean exploitation emerged during the late 1960s, science policy and diplomacy were formed in response to anticipated capabilities that did not match the realities of extracting deep-sea minerals and of resource exploitation in the deep ocean at the time. Promoters of ocean exploitation in the late 1960s envisaged wonders such as rare mineral extraction and the stationing of divers in underwater habitats from which they would operate seabed machinery not connected to the turbulent surface waters. Their promises coincided with others' fears that nuclear weaponry would be placed on the seabed. Those who lacked the technological capability to extract minerals from the seabed also had concerns that other nations would exploit their resources. Scientific imaginaries caused uncertainty in the international community—especially in the “Global South.” The UN called the “Law of the Sea” conferences to mediate emerging geopolitical tensions caused by these imaginaries of exploitation of ocean resources. These conferences became a site where lawmakers projected futures rather than merely responding to past or present dilemmas. Diplomats' negotiations, with their basis in anticipation of the future uses of science and technology, reveal the role of scientific imaginaries within complex negotiations. Here, we see the impact of the distinction (or blurring) of the real and the imagined on the balance of relations between Global North and South increasing global imbalances of resources and power. This article's analysis of DOI: 10.1111/1600-0498.12342

中文翻译：

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科学想象与科学外交：以海洋开发为例

本期特刊由专门的 ESHS 委员会在公开征集特刊后选出。摘要 随着 1960 年代后期海洋开发技术的出现，科学政策和外交的形成是为了应对与当时深海矿产和深海资源开发的现实不匹配的预期能力。1960 年代后期海洋开发的推动者设想了诸如稀有矿物开采和潜水员驻扎在水下栖息地等奇迹，他们将在那里操作与湍流地表水无关的海底机械。他们的承诺恰逢其他人担心核武器会被放置在海床上。那些缺乏从海底开采矿物的技术能力的人也担心其他国家会开发他们的资源。科学想象给国际社会带来了不确定性，尤其是在“全球南方”。联合国召集“海洋法”会议来调解因这些对海洋资源开发的想象而引起的新出现的地缘政治紧张局势。这些会议成为立法者预测未来的场所，而不仅仅是回应过去或现在的困境。外交官的谈判基于对未来科学技术用途的预测，揭示了科学想象在复杂谈判中的作用。这里，我们看到现实与想象的区分（或模糊）对全球南北关系平衡的影响，加剧了全球资源和权力的不平衡。本文对DOI的分析：10.1111/1600-0498.12342