Summary Science, Technology
and Society
Course aims
After completing the course, the student:
- Can critically reflect on the role of science and technology in society
- Can apply frameworks from the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) to concrete
cases of scientific and technological developments
- Has in-depth knowledge of central frameworks from STS
- Can clearly articulate findings in a range of communication formats
Part 1: frameworks for understanding science, technology, and society
Lecture 1: Introduction Science, Technology and Society
Science and technology are a way to solve societal problems.
Technologies also have other societal concepts (technology influences society).
What to make of this? MAIN MESSAGE
1. Science and technology should be understood as elements of particular societal
context
- Science and technology influence society
- Society influences science and technology
2. Science and technology are political
- Not good
- Not bad
- Not neutral
Is technology good or bad?
Common response 1
Some science and technology is good, other science and technology is bad (e.g. windturbines, good
for energy but bad for birds). wrong
,Science and technology are highly political, but not possible to say that some science and technology
are good or bad.
Common response 1
Science and technology are neutral (give a knife to a child or a gun gun dont kill people, people kill
people) wrong
They are certainly not neutral!
Artefact (= other word for technology) have politics
Bridges to Long Island (black people had no cars, so black people were not able to go to Long Island),
how influenced by society and other political effects
We will learn 4 theories.
Lecture 2: Large Technical Systems (LTS)
Background
Where does the LTS framework come from and what did it contribute to the study of technological
development?
Bridging social science and history of technology
A systemic and generalizable understanding of technological development beyond individual
inventors and technical objects (these are only the most visible tip of the iceberg, therefore the lens
should be changed).
The name LTS refers to both the approach and the unit of analysis. The ‘T’ stands for technical or
technological.
Main insights
Which insights are at the core of the LTS framework?
The ‘System’ as unit of analysis
- Not the lone technical artifact, but the ‘system’ of many interconnected elements should be
investigated to understand the co-evolution of technology and society
- System is made up of technical components (artifacts) individuals (independently or in
organisations) and institutions (knowledge, rules, routines, etc.)
Example: A technical artifact (car) within the wider system (automobility system)
, The ‘System’ as unit of analysis
- Systems can be broken down into sub-systems, which can be broken down into sub-sub-
systems, etc.
- Example: the integrated public transport system (elements include schedules, trains, OV-
bikes, OV-chipkaart, etc.)
- The system has a socio-technical character. The line between what is ‘technical’ and ‘social’
is blurry and many social and technical elements in the same system reflect each other and
share key feature.
- Modern society is shaped by LTS (birth of many ‘classic LTS’ in late 19th century, these still
have a massive impact on every aspect of our lives today). The LTS approach aims to shed
light on these ‘deep structures’
An LTS goes through various phases of evolution
Invention (radical, independent thinking)
Development (test in real use, add non-technical feats)
Innovation (add production and market feats)
Transfer (move to different context so different system, different technological styles)
Growth, Competition & Consolidation (capital intensive, vested interests, large actors,
standardization, inertia & momentum, conservative inventions)
Stagnation & Decline (less focus on this)
(note: this is not fixed but a ‘loosely defined pattern of development … with overlapping yet
discernable phases)
No inevitable logic to the development of electric power and other LTS
At many point in the story there were choices available that did not have unique technical solutions.
- The battle of the system (direct vs. alternating current)
- The path chosen depends on a set of social factors – popular opinion, the press, the
orientation of professional engineering schools, the availability of financing, and the intensity
of the intellectual resources brought to bear on the technical problems that arise by the
research community.
The social implementation of the technology is profoundly influenced by nontechnical factors
