Special Call for Papers on the Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions of Ontology Engineering

Special Call for Papers on the Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions of Ontology Engineering

Developing an ontology is similar to arranging a fence. In both cases human beings demarcate areas, be it in geographic or conceptual space, that they want to separate for some purpose. While the social, political, cultural, and economic implications of introducing such demarcations in the physical and social world, e.g., land ownership, have been studied for decades, ontologies are largely approached from a purely engineering perspective. There is reason to believe that this may hinder the success and adaptation of ontologies in science and society.