Mega-projects and Global Projects: Science between Utopia and Technocracy

The article demonstrates how the science and technology studies include nowadays the analysis of political, economic, cultural and ideological contexts and extend the idea of science as the backbone of large-scale social projects. The latter, often referred to as the mega-projects are characterized by a paradoxical nature. Despite permanent cost overruns and the fatal benefit shortfalls, mega-projects continue to be financed by the public and private investors. The article offers a resolution of this paradox by distinguishing between mega-projects (which more accurate calculation can improve efficiency) and global projects that contain an inherent element of utopia and relating not only to the economy but also to the broader sphere of sociality, culture and worldview. In this case, the criticism of utopian global projects from the perspective of K. Popper's social engineering and adaptive management is questionable, and any global historical event appears as hiding the human projectivity and unanticipated spontaneity. As an example of the global project, the history of the Karakum Canal is analyzed going back to the era of Peter the Great and various connections to Russian philosophical and literary tradition.