Science and Technology in Society: From Biotechnology to the Internet

by Daniel Lee Kleiman

• ISBN13: 9781405148191
• ISBN10: 1405148195
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-02-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This thoughtful and engaging text challenges the widely held notion of science as somehow outside of society, and the idea that technology proceeds automatically down a singular and inevitable path. Through specific case studies involving contemporary debates, this book shows that science and technology are fundamentally part of society and are shaped by it. Draws on concepts from political sociology, organizational analysis, and contemporary social theory. Avoids dense theoretical debate. Includes case studies and concluding chapter summaries for students and scholars.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Science is Political/ Technology is Social: Concerns, Concepts, and Questions

Why is Thinking about Science and Technology so Hard?

Technoscience is Social

Technoscience is Political

Ceding Debate: Biotechnology and Agriculture

Biotechnology and the Social Organization of Agriculture and Agri-business

The Discursive Landscape in the Debate over Biotechnology

Conclusions

Rethinking Information Technology: Caught in the World Wide Web

Understanding the Digital Divide

High Technology Education

Politics, Civil Action, and the Internet

Conclusions

Owning Technoscience: Understanding the New Intellectual Property Battles

Intellectual Property, Social Common Sense, and the Knowledge Commons

Intellectual Property and the Information Technology Revolution

Owning Life: Intellectual Property in Biological Materials

Intellectual Property and Innovation

Conclusion

Technoscience in the Third World: The Politics of Indigenous Resources.

Introduction

Science, Technology, and Colonialism

From Colonialism to Bio-Colonialism

Towards Equity in the Exchange of Biological Resources

Conclusions

Gender and the Ideology of Merit: Women, Men, Science, and Engineering

öMeritö and Stratification in Science

Women, Men, and Academic Science

Women and Men in Science-Based Industry

Beyond Stratification in Science and Engineering: Artifacts and Research as Gendered

Conclusions

Democracy and Expertise: Citizenship in a High Tech Age

The Limits to Expert Knowledge

The Virtues of Lay Knowledge

Barriers to Democratizing Technoscience and Expertise

Strategies for Overcoming the Obstacles

Conclusions

Confronting the Problem: A Summary and Coda.

References

Index

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