Science and Technology in Society

Soraya Boudia is a historian and sociologist of science and the environment, and a professor at Université Paris Cité, France. Her work has contributed to the development of STS in France, exploring the relationship between science and politics, with a focus on environmental risk management.Ashveen Peerbaye is a sociologist of science and technology and a lecturer at Université Gustave Eiffel, France. His research is rooted in STS and focuses on the material culture and the instrumental infrastructure of the biomedical sciences.

• Presentation of the “History of Sciences” Field xiJean-Claude DUPONTIntroduction Science and Technology in Societies xiiiSoraya BOUDIA and Ashveen PEERBAYEChapter 1 STS: French History of an (In)discipline 1Pierre-Benoît JOLY1.1 Introduction 11.2 The difficult constitution of “research on research”, between institutional control and academic conformism 31.2.1 The emergence of STS on the margins of the humanities and social sciences 31.2.2 Institutional initiatives with mixed results 51.3 An iconoclastic conception of science for thinking differently about society 71.3.1 The invention of actor-network theory 71.3.2 Science and innovations as society in the making 91.4 The new wave: moving beyond the paradigm of action 111.4.1 Analyzing the transformations of regimes of knowledge production 131.4.2 Technical democracy and its blind alleys 151.4.3 Knowing and acting in a finite world 171.5 Conclusion 191.6 Acknowledgments 211.7 References 21Chapter 2 Laboratory Studies: Beyond a Founding Myth of STS 29Ashveen PEERBAYE and Dominique VINCK2.1 Introduction 292.2 From pioneers to canonical studies: context of the emergence of laboratory studies 302.2.1 Pioneers 302.2.2 The place of laboratory studies in the context of a new sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) 322.3 Founding studies 342.3.1 Art and Artifact in Laboratory Science 342.3.2 The Manufacture of Knowledge 352.3.3 Laboratory Life 362.3.4 Beamtimes and Lifetimes 382.4 Major contributions of laboratory ethnographies to the study of science and technology 382.4.1 The materiality of scientific practices 382.4.2 The laboratory as an arrangement 402.5 After the founding studies 422.5.1 Towards a trivialization of laboratory studies? 422.5.2 Extensions and renewals 442.6 Conclusion 462.7 References 47Chapter 3 STS and Biomedicine 53Claire BEAUDEVIN, Luc BERLIVET, Catherine BOURGAIN and Jean-Paul GAUDILLIÈRE3.1 Introduction 533.2 Practicing biomedicine 543.2.1 From experimentation to routinization of biomedical practices 543.2.2 Biomedicine, its visions and its imaginaries 553.2.3 Molecularization, diagnosis and evidence-based medicine 563.2.4 Work on uncertainty 573.2.5 Pharmaceuticalization 593.3 Under the sign of risk: the (bio)politics of biomedicine 593.3.1 The epidemiology of risk factors 603.3.2 Controversies and institutional consolidation 613.3.3 Criticisms of biomedical individualism 623.4 Innovation, politics and the economics of biomedicine 643.5 Conclusion 683.6 References 69Chapter 4 Science for the People? STS Perspectives on the Question of Science and the Public 77Bernadette BENSAUDE-VINCENT and Andrée BERGERON4.1 Introduction 774.2 A multidisciplinary heritage 784.3 STS enters the scene 794.4 From the era of suspicion to contestation 814.5 Embedded STS for “responsible innovation” 834.6 The participatory turn 844.7 Conclusion 884.8 References 89Chapter 5 Politics of Expertise 97Henri BOULLIER and David DEMORTAIN5.1 Introduction 975.2 Deconstructing scientific expertise 985.2.1 Expertise, public decision-making and the demarcation of science and politics 985.2.2 Expertise in public arenas and the politicization of science 1005.2.3 “Lay” expertise, models of expertise, democracy 1015.2.4 Organization, proceduralization and production of expertise 1035.3 Politics of expertise: revisitations and lines of flight 1045.3.1 Citizen science and conflict of expertise 1055.3.2 Knowledge and expert communities: reexamining regulatory science 1075.3.3 Capture, conflicts of interest and the political economy of science 1085.4 Conclusion: crisis of expertise and credibility 1105.5 References 111Chapter 6 STS, Industry, and Risk Regulation 121Nathalie JAS and Marc-Olivier DÉPLAUDE6.1 Introduction 1216.2 Co-production and participation: making industries invisible 1226.3 Industry strategies: invisibilizing risks, neutralizing criticism 1266.4 Regulations structurally favorable for powerful industries 1296.5 Conclusion: thinking about the systemic influence of industry 1336.6 References 134Chapter 7 Ignorance Studies in STS 141Laura BARBIER, Maël GOUMRI and Justyna MOIZARD-LANVIN7.1 Introduction 1417.2 Agnotology, or ignorance as an object of study 1427.3 The main mechanisms of production of institutional ignorance 1457.4 Undone science as a policy of producing ignorance 1477.5 Expanding the field of ignorance studies 1507.6 Conclusion 1527.7 References 153Chapter 8 What the South is Doing to STS: Globalized Technoscience and Decolonization of Knowledge 159Mathieu QUET, Mina KLEICHE-DRAY and David DUMOULIN KERVRAN8.1 Introduction 1598.2 Analyzing scientific transactions on the margins of globalization 1608.3 Describing technological globalization from below 1638.4 Defining the universality of knowledge based on movements 1668.5 Conclusion 1698.6 References 169Chapter 9 Environmental STS 179Nicolas BAYA-LAFFITE, Soraya BOUDIA and Céline GRANJOU9.1 Introduction 1799.2 A relational materialism 1809.3 The science and politics of the global 1849.4 Environmental injustice 1889.5 Conclusion 1909.6 References 192Chapter 10 Soils and Subsoils in STS: Technosciences and Underground Entities 203Brice LAURENT, Julien MERLIN and Germain MEULEMANS10.1 Introduction 20310.2 Critique of soil and subsoil sciences, colonial and postcolonial issues 20410.3 Transforming soils and subsoils into resources 20710.4 Putting soils and subsoils to work in times of transition 20910.5 Conclusion: towards new soil and subsoil policies? 21210.6 References 213Chapter 11 STS and the Digital 219Marine AL DAHDAH, Éric DAGIRAL and Baptiste KOTRAS11.1 Introduction 21911.2 An irresistible convergence of STS toward the digital? 22011.3 From data to algorithms, questioning knowledge and powers 22311.4 New horizons: economic, ecological and postcolonial perspectives on digital technology in STS 22611.5 Conclusion 22911.6 References 229Chapter 12 Maintenance and Repair 239Jérôme DENIS and David PONTILLE12.1 Introduction 23912.2 A renewed interest in maintenance and repair 24012.3 Rhythms and sites 24312.4 Materialities 24512.5 Epistemologies 24912.6 Conclusion 25012.7 References 252List of Authors 261Index of Ideas 265Index of Names 271