CURRICULUM VITAE Trevor J. Pinch ADDRESS: Cornell University
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The Social Construction of Technology: Structural Considerations
Science,Klein, Kleinman Technology, / Social & Human Construction Values of Technology The Social Construction of Technology: Structural Considerations Hans K. Klein Georgia Institute of Technology Daniel Lee Kleinman University of Wisconsin–Madison Although scholarship in the social construction of technology (SCOT) has contributed much to illuminating technological development, most work using this theoretical approach is committed to an agency-centered approach. SCOT scholars have made only limited contributions to illustrating the influence of social structures. In this article, the authors argue for the importance of structural concepts to understanding technological development. They summarize the SCOT conceptual framework defined by Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker and survey some of the methodological and explanatory difficulties that arise with their approach. Then the authors present concepts from organizational sociology and political economy that illuminate structural influences in shaping phe- nomena of interest to SCOT scholars. These structural concepts can be applied to the study of the design, development, and transformation of technology. The authors con- clude that the limited amount of scholarship on structural factors in the social shaping of technological development presents numerous opportunities for research. Researchers in the field of science and technology studies (STS) have pro- duced a great deal of scholarshipin recent years that documents and analyzes the social shaping of technology.1 An important area of this scholarship, known as the social construction of technology (SCOT), traces its origins to Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker’s (1987) article, “The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other.” From this seminal work has flowed a body of research that is rich and diverse—but that has largely remained com- mitted to an agency-centered approach. -
Science, Technology and Society
Science, technology and society Science, technology and society (STS), also referred to relevant topics that the traditional curriculum ig- as science and technology studies, is a branch or off- nored. One such development was the rise of “sci- spring of science studies. It considers how social, po- ence, technology, and society” programs, which are litical, and cultural values affect scientific research and also—confusingly—known by the STS acronym. technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect Drawn from a variety of disciplines, including an- society, politics and culture. thropology, history, political science, and sociology, scholars in these programs created undergraduate curricula devoted to exploring the issues raised by 1 History science and technology. Unlike scholars in science studies, history of technology, or the history and philosophy of science, they were and are more likely STS is a new subject. Like most interdisciplinary pro- to see themselves as activists working for change grams, it emerged from the confluence of a variety of dis- rather than dispassionate, “ivory tower” researchers. ciplines and disciplinary subfields, all of which had devel- As an example of the activist impulse, feminist oped an interest—typically, during the 1960s or 1970s— scholars in this and other emerging STS areas ad- in viewing science and technology as socially embed- dressed themselves to the exclusion of women from ded enterprises.[1] The key disciplinary components of science and engineering. STS took shape independently, beginning in the 1960s, and developed in isolation from each other well into the • Science, engineering, and public policy studies 1980s, although Ludwik Fleck's monograph (1935) Gen- emerged in the 1970s from the same concerns that esis and Development of a Scientific Fact anticipated many motivated the founders of the science, technology, of STS’s key themes. -
The Social Construction of Technology: Media’S Role in “Disturbing” the Stabilization of Finchaa’S Ethanol-Kerosene Blend (‘K-50’)1
The Social Construction of Technology: Media’s Role in “Disturbing” the Stabilization of Finchaa’s 1 Ethanol-Kerosene Blend (‘K-50’) By Setargew Kenaw2 Abstract This paper aims to show how the design, production and stabilization of a given artifact could be socially constructed. Grounded in Science and Technology Studies (STS), the perspective dubbed as “social construction of technology” (SCOT) provides us with analytical tools such as “relevant social groups,” “stabilization,” “interpretive flexibility of meaning” and “disturbance.” On the basis of these analytical tools, this study tries to show the condition in which Finchaa Sugar Factory’s ethanol-kerosene blend (‘K-50’) was to reach the stage of stabilization. More particularly, the study focuses on the “disturbance” – this is a technical word in SCOT – that the media staged and, as a result, nearly knocked K-50 out of market. The principal value of this study lies in bringing together engineering knowledge and the social sciences in the Ethiopian context. The study could somehow be taken as experimental in that it helps us to see the interface between the two areas – an interface which is given little or no consideration among either social scientists or technologists in many ‘developing’ countries. 1 The final version of this article is submitted in March 2006. 2 Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Addis Ababa University. Email: [email protected] 63 Setargew Kenaw: The Social Construction of Technology… 1. Introduction 1.1. The development and production of K-50: background story This paper deals with the development of ethanol as alternative fuel in Ethiopia. The theoretical framework used here is known as the “social construction of knowledge” (SCOT), a framework developed by scholars working in a field which has become to be known as Science and Technology Studies (STS). -
THOMAS PARKE HUGHES from the COLLECTIONS of the UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA ARCHIVES from the COLLECTIONS of UNIVERSITY PENNSYLVANIA 13 September 1923
THOMAS PARKE HUGHES FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ARCHIVES FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF UNIVERSITY PENNSYLVANIA 13 september 1923 . 3 february 2014 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY VOL. 160, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2016 Hughes.indd 295 9/16/2016 10:03:18 AM biographical memoirs HOMAS PARKE HUGHES died in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 3 February 2014 at age 90. He had been ill with Alzheimer’s T disease since 2009. Tom, as he was known to his friends and colleagues, was America’s leading historian of technology and a founder of the discipline. He is fondly remembered by many scholars in numerous fields. Tom was a unique type of scholar. He was a gracious, meticulous Southern gentleman who always made you feel comfortable and always made you feel that he had time for you—whoever you were. You always left his presence feeling better about yourself. He had an encylo- paedic knowledge of the history of technology, which he would demon- strate at the drop of a hat, not to show off but to make a telling point about how technology actually developed. He studied great American inventors, such as Elmer Sperry and Thomas Edison, but was a debunker of the myth of the genius of individuals, arguing that technology formed a “seamless web” (to use one of his most beautiful metaphors) with economics, society, and politics. He was best known for studying large scale technological systems. He also had a passion for and vast knowledge of Art and Architecture, which he shared with his wife, Agatha (who died in 1997). -
19 April 2016 CURRICULUM VITAE: DONALD ANGUS MACKENZIE
Updated: 19 April 2016 CURRICULUM VITAE: DONALD ANGUS MACKENZIE Born Inverness, Scotland British Citizen Degrees BSc Applied Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, 1972 (First Class Honours; Newton Undergraduate Scholarship in Natural Philosophy; Napier Medal in Mathematics; Carnegie Scholarship) PhD, University of Edinburgh, 1978 Thesis: “The Development of Statistical Theory in Britain, 1865- 1925: A Historical and Sociological Perspective.” Supervisor: Barry Barnes. Posts Lecturer in Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 1975-1988 Reader in Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 1988-1992 Professor of Sociology (personal chair), University of Edinburgh, 1992 - present Visiting Drapers’ Company Visiting Lecturer, Deakin University, positions Australia, August-December 1981 Lecturer in Science Studies Unit, University of Edinburgh, October 1983 - September 1984 Visiting Scholar (unpaid), Program in Science, Technology and Society, MIT, September - December 1984 Chargé de Recherche Associé, Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation, École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, July - August 1987 Visiting Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University, July 1997 - January 1998 Freier Mitarbeiter, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte (Berlin), July 2003 Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Durham, October-December 2008. Visiting Fellow, Max Po (Sciences Po, Paris), March 2014. 2 Professional Awards and Memberships Abbott Payson Usher Prize of Society for the History of Technology, 1986: for article 10 below. U.S. Navy Prize in Naval History, 1989: for article 17 below. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Life Members’ Prize in Electrical History, 1992: for article 24 below. co-winner, Robert K. Merton Award of the American Sociological Association, 1993: for Inventing Accuracy (see below). Ludwik Fleck Prize of the Society for Social Studies of Science, 1993: for Inventing Accuracy (see below). -
28 February 2020 CURRICULUM VITAE: DONALD ANGUS
Updated: 28 February 2020 CURRICULUM VITAE: DONALD ANGUS MACKENZIE Born Inverness, Scotland British Citizen Degrees BSc Applied Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, 1972 (First Class Honours; Newton Undergraduate Scholarship in Natural Philosophy; Napier Medal in Mathematics; Carnegie Scholarship) PhD, University of Edinburgh, 1978 Thesis: “The Development of Statistical Theory in Britain, 1865- 1925: A Historical and Sociological Perspective.” Supervisor: Barry Barnes. Posts Lecturer in Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 1975-1988 Reader in Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 1988-1992 Professor of Sociology (personal chair), University of Edinburgh, 1992 - present Visiting Drapers’ Company Visiting Lecturer, Deakin University, positions Australia, August-December 1981 Lecturer in Science Studies Unit, University of Edinburgh, October 1983 - September 1984 Visiting Scholar (unpaid), Program in Science, Technology and Society, MIT, September - December 1984 Chargé de Recherche Associé, Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation, École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, July - August 1987 Visiting Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University, July 1997 - January 1998 Freier Mitarbeiter, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte (Berlin), July 2003 Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Durham, October-December 2008. Visiting Fellow, Max Po (Sciences Po, Paris), March 2014. 2 Professional Awards and Memberships Abbott Payson Usher Prize of Society for the History of Technology, 1986: for article 10 below. U.S. Navy Prize in Naval History, 1989: for article 17 below. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Life Members’ Prize in Electrical History, 1992: for article 24 below. co-winner, Robert K. Merton Award of the American Sociological Association, 1993: for Inventing Accuracy (see below). Ludwik Fleck Prize of the Society for Social Studies of Science, 1993: for Inventing Accuracy (see below). -
General Introduction
General Introduction The origin of this book can be traced back to the Burg Landsberg, an old castle crowning a steep hill in Deutschlandsberg, Austria. This is a remote place without worldly temptations, and the participants of the first meeting of the newly formed European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) could but stick together and work hard.1 It was here, during a cocktail session in the early eve ning of September 25, 1982, that two of the three editors of this book met for the first time. Encouraged by their concurring interests in a constructivist approach to the study of technology and by drinking the famous regional pink champagne, Trevor Pinch, a sociologist of science, and Wiebe Bijker, a sociologist of technology, decided to start a joint project. The object would be to bring together Pinch’s detailed studies of the development of science with Bijker’s studies of technology. Pinch obtained a scholarship and moved for half a year from the University of Bath to the Twente University of Technology. Even tually this research resulted in a number of papers in which Pinch and Bijker argued that an integrated approach to the social study of science and technology would be feasible and fruitful. Specifically, they proposed a social constructivist approach, thereby extending the relatively new but already well-established sociology of scientific knowledge into the realm of technology. In passing, they discarded most of the existing approaches to technology advocated by histo rians, philosophers, and economists. This general condemnation, although it had the benefit of defining their stance quite clearly, obviously lacked subtlety. -
After Method: Mess in Social Science Research
After Method ‘Research Methods’: a compulsory course, which is loved by some but hated by many! This stimulating book is about what went wrong with ‘research methods’. Its controversial argument is radical, even revolutionary. John Law argues that methods don’t just describe social realities but also help to create them. The implications of this argument are highly significant. If this is the case, methods are always political, and this raises the question of what kinds of social realities we want to create. Most current methods look for clarity and precision. It is usually said that messy findings are a product of poor research. The idea that things in the world might be fluid, elusive, or multiple is unthinkable. Law’s startling argument is that this is wrong and it is time for a new approach. Many realities, he says, are vague and ephemeral. If methods want to know and to help shape the world, then they need to reinvent their practice and their politics in order to deal with mess. That is the challenge. Nothing else will do. This book is essential reading for students, postgraduates and researchers with an interest in methodology. John Law is Professor of Sociology and Technology Studies at Lancaster University. He has written widely on social theory, methodology, technologies, and health care. International Library of Sociology Founded by Karl Mannheim Editor: John Urry, Lancaster University Recent publications in this series include: Risk and Technological Culture Towards a sociology of virulence Joost Van Loon Reconnecting Culture, Technology and Nature Mike Michael Adorno on Popular Culture Robert R. -
Economic Sociology and Social Studies of Technology
Economic Sociology and Social Studies of Technology by Árni Sverrisson Stockholm University [email protected] It is striking how little systematic analysis of technological change can be found in the writings of the main proponents of Economic Sociology. In the Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by Smelser and Swedberg, technology is not accorded a separate treatment. Economic sociologists therefore appear to be somewhat unprepared for discussing what many consider the great issues of the day, such as the role of innovation processes in economic change, and more specifically the impact of information technology, genetic engineering, advances in materials technology and new environmental regulatory regimes on markets, organisations and economic systems. However, there are sociologists who study technological change, and the purpose of this review is to introduce a small selection to the readers of the Newsletter. Most of the contributions mentioned here belong to an field of studies, often labelled ‘STS’ (Science, Technology, Society) which has been established within three organisation, the European Association for Social Studies of Science and Technology (EASSST), the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and the Society for History of Technology (SHOT). As a result, STS is among other things shaped by an ongoing dialogue between historians and social scientists, including sociologists but also anthropologists and business economists. It is also characterised by a pervasive interest in the relation between science and technology, and by a pronounced interdisciplinary orientation. Social studies of technology are the study of man made artefacts, how they are made, used and disposed of in a social context (Basalla 1988). -
New EIC Editorial for Engineering Studies
Engineering Studies ISSN: 1937-8629 (Print) 1940-8374 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/test20 New Editor-in-Chief Editorial Cyrus C. M. Mody To cite this article: Cyrus C. M. Mody (2018) New Editor-in-Chief Editorial, Engineering Studies, 10:1, 1-11, DOI: 10.1080/19378629.2018.1427748 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19378629.2018.1427748 Published online: 07 Jun 2018. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=test20 ENGINEERING STUDIES, 2018 VOL. 10, NO. 1, 1–11 https://doi.org/10.1080/19378629.2018.1427748 EDITORIAL New Editor-in-Chief Editorial A new journal editor who follows a successful predecessor faces a daunting challenge. Dou- bly so if that predecessor was the founder of the journal. Everyone in engineering studies, and everyone associated with Engineering Studies, owes Gary Downey an enormous debt for putting the journal on its feet, bringing it through nine great volumes, and integrating it with the International Network for Engineering Studies (INES) and other institutions in our field. Much of my own research highlights the importance of institutions such as journals, conference series, professional societies, academic centers, and funding streams in consti- tuting research communities. I know how much a field like engineering studies needs those institutions, but also how difficult it can be for the people who try to hold those institutions together. Several of the community builders I’ve written about were driven to distraction, ill health, or megalomania, or simply gave up and left the fields they helped establish. -
Reflections on Science, Technology and Democracy
Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 3 (2017), 315-331 DOI:10.17351/ests2017.170 Constructing Worlds: Reflections on Science, Technology and Democracy (and a Plea for Bold Modesty)1 WIEBE E. BIJKER2 MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY Abstract Can STS offer a response to “alternative facts” without falling back into naive positivism? Can STS help to make science accountable to society and make it work—make it function in our democracies and let it produce scientific knowledge? In his valedictory lecture, Wiebe Bijker looks back upon three decades of STS research in general, and upon engaging STS with questions of democratization and development in particular. He starts from the question how to study technological cultures and ends with the question how to construct them. The argument moves from the social construction of technology to constructing socio-technical worlds. Finally, when trying to understand this construction work, the analysis zooms in on the constructing worlds: on the institutions in which this construction work takes place. Keywords STS; SCOT; technological culture; development; democratization; RRI; biogas; India Introduction “We are living in a technological culture.” That was the summary of my inaugural lecture in 1995 (Bijker 1995a, 2010). Today I want to move from the question how to study our technological cultures to the question how to construct them. In a few big steps, I shall take you from the social construction of technology to constructing socio-technical worlds. And finally, when trying to understand this construction work, to the constructing worlds—with the emphasis on constructing: zooming in on the worlds, the institutions, in which this construction work takes place. -
Econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible
A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Sverrisson, Árni Article Economic sociology and social studies of technology Economic Sociology: European Electronic Newsletter Provided in Cooperation with: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG), Cologne Suggested Citation: Sverrisson, Árni (2000) : Economic sociology and social studies of technology, Economic Sociology: European Electronic Newsletter, ISSN 1871-3351, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG), Cologne, Vol. 1, Iss. 2, pp. 8-12 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/155296 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Economic Sociology and Social Studies of Technology by Árni Sverrisson Stockholm University [email protected] It is striking how little systematic analysis of technological change can be found in the writings of the main proponents of Economic Sociology.