What is Science and Technology Studies (STS)?
2) History of STS:
a. pre-20th century views: science and tech allows appreciation of God's Glory, violation of God's law, increased profits,
revolt against church and state, etc. Positivism: science = Truth.
b. post WWI: George Sarton and founding of ISIS
c. Merton: science has normative
structure (universalism, communism, disinterestedness, organized scepticism)
science has reward system (eponomy, honorific prizes, historical priority). Other founders of Social Studies of
Knowledge (SSK): Fleck, Hessen, Mannheim.
d. Popper: Criterion for scientific status is falsifiability.
e. Kuhn: Science consists
of short revolutions between paradigms, followed by "normal science" within
There is no research without puzzles, but puzzles can be reinterpreted as need for new paradigm.
f. 1960s: Impact policy studies, biased science critique, biased technology critique: eg Mumford, Carlson, Boggs, etc.
g. 1970-80s: Critique of
science-as-usual: Science itself as authoritarian power (Merchant, Keller),
Relativist critique of science (Feyerabend, Collins), Constructivist (Knorr-Cetina, Latour, Bloor). SCOT, ANT.
h. 1990s: Cultural studies
approach (interpretation), intervention, . Re-emergence of interest in
alternative practice, action
research, democratic science and technology, local/global knowlege collaboration.
2) Why not just use social solutions for social problems? Why bother with STS?
Social analysis alone is not enough: regardless of the economic system,
must take technology design into account
3) How do normative issues (“values,” “ideology”) enter into STS?
a. Technophobe view: technology is inherently evil. (e.g. unibomber)
b. Techno-utopian view: technology is inherently good. (e.g. Walt Disney)
c. Technology is neutral view: “a hammer can be used to murder or to build a house. The technological artifacts themselves are therefore politically neutral.”
STS takes a 4th approach – the Social Constructionist view.
4) Examples of the social constructionist view:
a. Classist engineer Robert Moses constructs the bridges on Long Island such that low clearance bridges lead to beaches and parks, preventing poor people from cluttering up his nice areas reserved for the rich. After Moses dies, the bridges are still doing his dirty work – impossible to analyze under the “technology is neutral” view. Artifacts can have politics.
b. Power stations built in 1923 in Berlin show strong centralization, but those in London 1923 show strong decentralization – different “cultural styles.”
The first voice recognition software worked better on men than women –
not due to an individual’s sexist agency, but do the structural
sexism in the institutions.