Only impact counts: On the popularity and critique of the concept of impact, and conclusions for technology assessment; [Was wirkt hat recht: Zur Konjunktur und Kritik des Wirkungsbegriffs und Schlussfolgerungen für die Technikfolgenabschätzung]

This research article develops a reflexive conception of ‘im-pact’ in technology assessment (TA). Impact is conceived as a relationaland processual attribution that is co-produced by indicators and eval-uation practices. Building on philosophical debates on causality (Aris-totle, Hume, Kant), science and technology studies, evaluation research,and TA, four analytical dimensions are proposed: causal architecture,uncertainty profile, framing order, and epistemic plurality. Using thesecriteria, the analysis of central impact regimes reveals how control log-ics standardize impact and obscure long-term effects. This upstream*Corresponding author: franziska.soergel@kit.edu1Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse, Karlsruher Institutfür Technologie, Karlsruhe, DE© 2026 by the author(s); licensee oekom. This Open Access article is publishedunder a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY).https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.7253Received: 09. 09. 2025; revised version accepted: 30. 01. 2026; published online: 23. 03.2026 (peer review)framework for reflection redefines impact as a formative and negotiableprocess, enabling TA to understand epistemic prerequisites and designevaluative orders that better live up to the complexity of reflexive knowl-edge production.