Science as system vs. science as practice: Luhmann's sociology of science and recent approaches in science and technology studies (STS)—a fragmentary confrontation

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Taschwer
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Niklas Luhmann ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Autopoietic Systems ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Contemporary Science ◽  
The One

The last twenty years not only saw the development of a distinctive systems theory by Niklas Luhmann, but also the emergence of a transdisciplinary field called science and technology studies (STS), which emanated from the older sociology of science. This contribution is dedicated to a basic confrontation of theoretical approaches in “new” STS with Luhmann's sociology of science as a part of his theory of society. On the one hand, I want to depict some similarities between both approaches, i.e. the linguistic/semiotic turn, relativism and reflexivism. On the other hand, in the second section, I try to show some of the major differences between recent STS theories and Luhmann's autopoietic systems theory. Basic distinctions are identified with regard to the perception of science (closed system vs. “seamless web”) and the different scope of the theories. This finally leads to the modest conclusion that these conceptualizations can hardly be integrated and thus reflect the complexity of contemporary science - both as “subject” and “object”.

Bourdieu’s Rationalist Science of Science: Some Promises and Limitations

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Sismondo
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Pierre Bourdieu ◽  
Evolutionary Epistemology ◽  
Science Of Science ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Political Economies

At several points over his career, Pierre Bourdieu articulated a framework for a sociology of science, derived mostly from a priori reasoning about scientific actors in competition for capital. This article offers a brief overview of Bourdieu’s framework, placing it in the context of dominant trends in Science and Technology Studies. Bourdieu provides an excellent justification for the project of the sociology of science, and some starting points for analysis. However, his framework suffers from his commitment to a vague evolutionary epistemology, and from his correlative and surprising neglect of science’s habituses, with their particular practices, boundaries, and political economies. To be productive, Bourdieu’s sociology of science would have to abandon its narrow rationalism and embrace the material complexity of the sciences.

The Sokal Affair in Context

1997 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Hilgartner
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Science History ◽  
Central Lines ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Social Scientific

The failure to consider the Sokal affair in light of other, related episodes has contributed to a wholesale misreading of its significance. The episode has often been offered as evidence for the bankruptcy of a broad and diverse collection offields, variously referred to as cultural studies of science, sociology of science, history of science, and science and technology studies. However, when viewed in context, the Sokal affair illustrates pre cisely why social scientific and humanistic studies of science are necessary. To develop this argument, the author explicitly compares Alan Sokal's experiment with a similar experiment, performed by William M. Epstein and published in this very journal. Comparing the research questions, methods, ethics, and reception of these two experi ments not only reveals the limitations of Sokal's critique but also shows that Sokal has unwittingly endorsed one of the central lines of research in science and technology studies.

scholarly journals Building Bridges

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-143
Author(s):  
Stefan Laser
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
The One

This paper discusses three recent book publications devoted to a detailed description and reflection of methodology. These are three different contributions that focus on different disciplinary approaches to STS methods: sociology (via Meier zu Verl's monograph "Daten-Karrieren und epistemische Materialität" [Data Careers and Epistemic Materiality]), cultural anthropology (represented by Estalella's and Criado's edited volume "Experimental Collaborations") and, across these discussions, an interdisciplinary lens (brought in by Wiedmann et al.'s "Wie forschen mit den' Science and Technology Studies'?" [How to do research with 'Science and Technology Studies'?]). Based on these publications, a transformation of STS method reflection can be traced. We have now arrived at the gratifying state that the methods literature aims to build bridges to mediate between methodological ideals on the one hand and research realities on the other. At the same time, the field creatively reflects on the diverse effects of STS method practices.

scholarly journals Molecular Detector (Non)Technology in Mexico

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Reyes-Galindo
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Scientific Policy ◽  
Relative Power ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Contemporary Science ◽  
Global North

This paper discusses the introduction of fraudulent “molecular detector” (non)technology into Mexico. The case is used to argue that contemporary science and technology studies’ approaches to scientific policy-making make basic assumptions about the societies they operate in that are inconsistent with the Mexican context. This paper also argues that contrary to what happens in the so-called Global North, the relative power of Mexican science in government and policy circles is as much limited by its relatively weak position as much as it is by self-censorship and unrealized impact in the country’s fragile democracy. The case is also used to highlight the necessity for more politically involved scientific institutions in Mexico, as these become critical safeguards against incoming destabilizing technologies from more powerful nations into the local “peripheral” context.

From ‘Science and Religion’ to ‘Transcendence in Science’, or: What We Can Learn from the (History of) Science and Technology Studies

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-126
Author(s):  
Silke Gülker
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Micro Level

This chapter begins by identifying an imbalance in the sociology of science and technology. Across sociology, hardly anyone would object to the idea that science is a social process. Science and technology studies and the sociology of science have deconstructed scientific work and revealed how it is socially embedded in many ways. From this perspective, scientific knowledge is co-produced by scientific and non-scientific actors in a process influenced by class, gender, and culture. Few authors, however, have investigated the role that religion might play in this process of knowledge production. This is striking because this relationship was one of the most important topics in the early stages of sociology of science, which is one of the forerunner fields of science and technology studies. This chapter discusses the work of two pioneering authors in sociology of science, Robert K. Merton and Ludwik Fleck. While Merton’s work can still be inspiring for contemporary investigations of the relationship between science and religion on a meso- and macro-level, Fleck’s concept of ‘thought collectives’ and ‘thought styles’ asks for comparative empirical studies on a micro-level. Against this background, the chapter presents an idea of how to implement such micro-level empirical work beyond the science versus religion dichotomy: specifically, by analyzing transcendence constructions, demonstrated here in the field of stem cell research.

The jar and the footbridge. Humanities, nature and culture in the view of science and technology studies and biosemiotics

Tekstualia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (62) ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Machtyl
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Human Subject ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The One

The paper aims at juxtaposing two main disciplines: science and technology studies, on the one hand, and biosemiotics, on the other, from the methodological perspective (i.e. concerning epistemology and methodology) and the ontological one (concerning the object of research). Thus, the analysis concerns the opposition of naturalism and antinaturalism in reference to the huma-nities and sciences and nature / culture in reference to the field of study. Science and technology studies (Bruno Latour) and biosemiotics are of key importance in challenging two kinds of binarism: the humanities vs. sciences and nature vs. culture. The discussion further touches upon the question of how the human subject can know nature as well as the issue of discourse, language, reference and the scientifi c text. A critical perspective on science, proposed by both science and technology studies and biosemiotics, possibly anticipates a revolution.

scholarly journals Gerar (e gerir) expectativas: novas áreas de pesquisa nos estudos da ciência e da tecnologia │ Making (and managing) expectations: new areas of research in science and technology studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Velho
Keyword(s):  
Science Policy ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Policy Risk ◽  
Analytical Tools

RESUMO Os estudos da ciência e da tecnologia constituem uma área em que novas ferramentas analíticas são constantemente elaboradas. Este artigo propõe usar a sociologia das expectativas, desenvolvida na última década, como uma nova perspectiva a ser usada para analisar debates geralmente explorados por teorias da política científica, e investigar as vantagens e lacunas desta disciplina. Ao fazê-lo, faz-se uso de um conjunto de trabalhos da sociologia das expectativas para sugerir uma re-leitura do caso do sismo de Aquila em 2009 em que, de forma inédita na história da ciência, seis cientistas e um oficial do governo italianos foram acusados e condenados por homicídio involuntário pela occorência de 300 vítimas.Palavras-chave: Comunicação; Expectativas; Política Científica; Sociedade de Risco; Sociologia da Ciência.ABSTRACT Science and technology studies has been an area where new analytical tools are constantly being elaborated. This paper proposes the sociology of expectations, developed in the past decade, as a new perspective to be used when analysing debates usually explored by science policy theories, and investigates the advantages and shortfalls of this discipline. To do so, the author uses an ensemble of work from the sociology of expectations to offer a different reading of the prosecution of six scientists and a government official in Italy, found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after an earthquake left over 300 victims in L’Aquila.  Keywords: Communication; Expectations; Science Policy; Risk Society; Sociology of Science.

scholarly journals Trois regards sur la notion de « culture chinoise »

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Basile Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
Interactional Expertise ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Chinese Studies

Abstract Chinese studies are going through a period of reforms. This article appraises what could constitute the theoretical and methodological foundations of contemporary sinology today. The author suggests an approach of “Chinese culture” by drawing from recent frameworks of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The paper starts with current debates in Asian studies, followed by a historical overview of the concept of culture in anthropology. Then, two short case studies are presented with regard to two different STS approaches: studies of expertise and experience and the notion of interactional expertise, and the framework of waves and forms. A general argument is thereby sketched which suggests how “Chinese culture” can be understood from the perspective of materiality.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document