Visions of STS: Counterpoints in Science, Technology, and Society Studies

by Stephen H. Cutcliffe (Editor), Carl Mitcham (Editor)

Overview

Visions of STS brings together the views of ten leading scholars to clarify the nature of Science, Technology, and Society Studies and point toward future developments. The interdisciplinary field of STS maps out the interconnected relationships among science, technology, and society in order to better understand both the innumerable benefits as well as problematic challenges. This book, rather than presenting science and technology as autonomous entities, analyzes each contextually as societal-mediated processes that reflect cultural, political, and economic values. It contains four basic programmatic essays that deal with technological determinism, the social constructivist view, STS and policy information, and the issue of interdisciplinarity. Visions of STS also stresses more specialized perspectives of work, education, and public policy analysis, and challenges the way STS itself is pursued. Taken together, these essays offer an exciting and unusually broad overview of STS.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791491126
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Series:	SUNY series in Science, Technology, and Society
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	24 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stephen H. Cutcliffe is Director of the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Lehigh University and coeditor of Technology and the West and Technology and American History. Carl Mitcham is Professor of Liberal Arts and International Studies at Colorado School of Mines and author of Thinking through Technology: The Path between Engineering and Philosophy.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Visionary Challenges of STS

Part I. General Perspectives

1. Where Technological Determinism Went
Langdon Winner

2. Understanding Technological Culture through a Constructivist View of Science, Technology, and Society
Wiebe E. Bijker

3. Three Perspectives in STS in the Policy Context
Lars Fuglsang

4. Making Disciplines Disappear in STS
Susan E. Cozzens

Part II. Applications

5. An STS Perspective on Technology and Work
Rudi Volti

6. Science-Technology-Society and Education: A Focus on Learning and How Persons Know
Robert E. Yager

7. STS from a Policy Perspective
Albert H. Teich

Part III. Critiques

8. STS on Other Planets
Richard E. Sclove

9. Gender: The Missing Factor in STS
Eulalia Perez Sedeno

10. Postmodern Production and STS Studies: A Revolution Ignored
Wilhelm E. Fedpucker, S.J.

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Ten scholars, not identified, clarify the nature of Science, Technology, and Society Studies, and project future developments in the fairly new discipline, which is concerned with the benefits and problems of the mixture. Rather than presenting science and technology as autonomous entities, they analyze each contextually as socially mediated processes that reflect cultural, political, and economic values. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"This is a strong survey of the field of STS. It covers a lot of ground in ten concise essays that are accessible to non-experts in the field, yet detailed and provocative enough to hold the attention of the more advanced reader." — Joseph R. Herkert, editor of Social, Ethical, and Policy Implications of Engineering: Selected Readings

"The book is useful, in relatively specific terms (e.g., on the issue of technological determinism) in helping any reader think about the relationships of science, technology, and society. It is also useful in broader terms for those working in and thinking about STS as a field." — Jesse S. Tatum, author of Energy Possibilities: Rethinking Alternatives and the Choice–Making Proce

From the Publisher