STS Chapter 1

Science, Technology and Society (STS)

An interdisciplinary field involving academic teaching, academic research, and elements of a social movement that studies science and technology as complex social constructs and examines their social, epistemological, political, and ethical dimensions.

1. Academic Teaching

2. Academic Research

STS is an interdisciplinary field of:

Social movement

An element of STS concerned with social issues and the role of science and technology in society.

complex social constructs

The view in STS that science and technology are shaped by social conditions rather than existing only as isolated objective activities.

Social influences

The effects of society and social conditions on science and technology.

Epistemological questions

Questions concerning knowledge, how it is produced, and how scientific knowledge is understood.

Political questions

Questions involving the relationship of science and technology with politics, government, power, and policy.

Ethical questions

Questions about the values, responsibilities, consequences, and right or wrong uses of science and technology.

1. social influence

2. epistemological questions

3. policitical questions

4. ethical questions

STS examines science and technology as a complex social constructs by their

1. industrial revolution

2. digital age

Major changes studied by STS

Industrial Revolution

A major historical transformation associated with science and technology that changed production, manufacturing, transportation, and society.

Digital age

A period characterized by widespread digital technology and its effects on communication, information, work, and everyday life.

STS studies the effects of scientific facts and technologies on

1. laws

2. public policy

3. daily life.

Science

A framework of knowledge about the natural world learned through the scientific method and used to describe and explain nature and its phenomena.

Scientia

The Latin word from which the term science comes, meaning “knowledge.”

Scientific method

The method through which scientific knowledge is developed.

Science as an idea

Science viewed as a way of understanding the natural world.

Science as an intellectual activity

Science viewed as an activity involving inquiry, reasoning, investigation, and knowledge-building.

Science as a body of knowledge

Science viewed as the accumulated concepts, methods, principles, theories, laws, and procedures about the natural world.

Science as a personal and social activity

Science viewed as an activity carried out by people and within society.

Technology

The application of scientific expertise, laws, and principles to develop services, products, instruments, and machines for solving real problems. It is also a material product of scientific investigation and a complex system involving people, knowledge, techniques, equipment, materials, and resources.

Techne

The Greek word associated with technology, meaning art, skill, or cunning hand.

1. scientific expertise

2. laws

3. principles

Technology is the application of

Technology as a material product

Technology can be a physical product resulting from scientific investigation.

Technology as a complex system

Technology involves expertise, skills, personnel, techniques, equipment, materials, and resources used in the production, operation, and manufacture of products, processes, or services.

Society

A group or community of people connected through persistent relationships, usually occupying the same geographical or social territory, sharing political authority and cultural expectations, and forming a complex of mutual relationships.

Societas

The Latin word from which society comes.

Society

Refers to a people belonging to a particular group

1. Biotechnology

2. Globalization & Economic Competitiveness

3. Internet

4. Weapons, Terrorism & Security

Examples of STS Issues

Biotechnology

An STS issue involving the application of biological science and technology and its effects on society.

Globalization & Economic Competitiveness

An STS issue involving the effects of science and technology on global economic relations and competitiveness.

Internet

An STS issue involving digital technology and its effects on communication, society, and daily life.

Weapons, Terrorism & Security

An STS issue involving technologies connected with weapons, terrorism, defense, safety, and security.

1. Makes life easier and more comfortable

2. Saves time and money

3. Opens new ways of understanding

4. Helps advance education

Importance of Science to Technology and Society.

1. Interdisciplinary

2. Socially Embedded

3. Interactive

4. Mutual Shaping

5. Contextual

6. Social Construction

Nature of STS.

Interdisciplinary

STS combines history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, political science, and policy in studying science and technology.

Socially Embedded

Science and technology are not neutral or isolated; they are human activities influenced by cultural and political values.

Interactive

Society shapes scientific inquiry while scientific discoveries and technologies reshape society.

Mutual Shaping

Society shapes research and technology development, while science and technology also transform society.

Contextual

Science and technology are embedded in social, cultural, and political contexts.

Social Construction

Scientific knowledge and technologies develop through social processes.

1. Ethical and Policy Dilemmas

2. Historical and Cultural Context

3. Technology and Culture

4. Environment and Sustainability

5. Public Engagement

Scope of STS.

Ethical and Policy Dilemmas

A scope of STS covering climate change, AI ethics, genetic engineering, and public health.

Historical and Cultural Context

A scope of STS covering past scientific practices, power structures, and their effects on modern technology.

Technology and Culture

A scope of STS examining technologies such as AI and social media and their effects on values, practices, and identity.

Environment and Sustainability

A scope of STS covering climate change and resource management.

Public Engagement

A scope of STS involving scientific literacy, community decision-making, everyday life, and communication between scientific experts and the public.

AI ethics

An ethical and policy issue concerning the proper, fair, and responsible development and use of artificial intelligence.

Genetic engineering

An STS issue involving the modification of genetic material and its ethical and policy implications.

Past scientific practices

Historical practices in science examined to understand their influence and consequences.

Power structures

Social and political arrangements of power that affect science, technology, and their development.

Resource management

The management and use of resources as part of environment and sustainability concerns.

Scientific literacy

Understanding science sufficiently to engage with scientific information and decisions.

Community decision-making

Participation of communities in decisions involving science, technology, and public concerns.

1. Critical Thinking

2. Informed Citizenship

3. Policy Relevance

4. Holistic Understanding

5. Science Literacy

6. Responsible Innovation

7. Bridges Divides

Significance of STS.

Critical Thinking

The ability to evaluate the benefits, risks, and ethical dilemmas associated with science and technology.

1. Benefits

2. Risks

3. Ethical dilemmas

What is evaluated through Critical Thinking in STS.

Informed Citizenship

Understanding and participating in science and technology decisions as a citizen.

Policy Relevance

STS helps develop better science and technology policies by considering their social effects.

Holistic Understanding

Understanding complex problems such as pandemics and AI ethics by considering their different dimensions.

Science Literacy

The science knowledge and understanding needed for modern life.

Responsible Innovation

Innovation that supports equitable and sustainable tools while promoting human welfare.

Bridges Divides

STS connects technical fields with the humanities.

1. History of Science and Technology

2. Philosophy of Science

3. Sociology

4. Anthropology

5. Policy Studies

6. Cultural & Literary Studies

Key Disciplines in STS.

History of Science and Technology

The study of how science and technology developed over time.

Philosophy of Science

The examination of causality, explanation, evidence, scientific method, realism, anti-realism, and the boundaries of science.

Sociology

The scientific study of society, social behavior, relationships, and the development and structure of groups.

Anthropology

The study of how science and technology are shaped by culture and how they shape culture, societies, and histories, commonly using ethnographic methods.

Ethnographic methods

Methods used to study people, cultures, practices, and social life through detailed observation and participation.

Policy Studies

The study of how public policies are made, implemented, and evaluated and what effects they have on society.

Cultural and Literary Studies

The use of literature, history, and philosophy to study values, narratives, social impacts, and how science and technology and culture shape one another.

Science and Technology

An interdisciplinary field that became established mainly in the 1960s–1970s, shifting from viewing science as purely objective toward examining its social, political, and cultural contexts, influenced by Thomas Kuhn and helped by MIT programs.

1960s–1970s

The period when the History of Science and Technology became an interdisciplinary field.

Shift from pure objectivity

The change from viewing science as purely objective toward examining social, political, and cultural influences on it.

Thomas Kuhn

Thinker who influenced the development of STS by emphasizing that scientific facts and scientific development can be socially conditioned.

MIT Programs

Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that helped develop the interdisciplinary study of science and technology.

Origins of STS History

Interest in the social dimensions of science increased between the World Wars and during the Cold War, leading scholars to question pure scientific objectivity.

Between the World Wars

Period during which interest in the social dimensions of science increased.

Cold War

Period that further increased interest in questioning pure scientific objectivity and understanding science within social and political contexts.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas Kuhn's 1962 work that influenced STS by presenting scientific facts and change as affected by social conditioning.

1962

Publication year of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Institutionalization

The process during the 1970s through which STS became established in formal academic programs.

1970s Institutionalization

Period when formal STS programs were developed.

Elting E. Morison

The scholar identified as a founder of an influential STS program at MIT.

Interactions among Science, Technology, and Society

STS is a dynamic, two-way, interdependent, and complex system in which each part continually shapes the others. This is also described as co-production or mutual shaping.

Dynamic

The relationship among science, technology, and society continually changes.

Two-way

Each part can influence the others in both directions.

Interdependent

Science, technology, and society depend on and affect one another.

Complex system

Science, technology, and society form interconnected parts whose changes affect one another.

Co-production

The process by which science, technology, and society are produced and shaped together.

Mutual Shaping

The continuous process in which science, technology, and society influence and transform one another.

1. Scientific discoveries

2. Technological Innovation

3. Societal Effects

4. New Research Priorities

Basic continuous process of interaction among science, technology, and society.

Science to Technology

Scientific research provides knowledge, principles, and theories that help create new technologies.

Atomic Physics to Nuclear Energy

Example of scientific knowledge leading to a technological development.

Technology to Science

Technology provides tools, instruments, and techniques that enable new observations, advanced research, and new discoveries.

Interdependence of Science and Technology

Science and technology work together, and a limitation in one may lead to innovation in the other.

Technology to Society

Technology changes work, communication, health, and daily life.

1. Internet

2. Smartphones

3. Transportation Systems

Examples of technologies that affect society.

Technology and Ethics

Technological development creates issues involving privacy, security, and inequality.

1. Privacy
2. Security
3. Inequality

Ethical issues associated with technology.