Social Studies of Science Association

Social Studies of Science Association
Name	Social Studies of Science Association
Abbreviation	SSAA
Formation	1960s
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	United States
Region served	International
Language	English

Social Studies of Science Association is an international learned society that brings together scholars studying the social, historical, and cultural dimensions of science and technology. Founded amid intellectual ferment in the 1960s and 1970s, it connects researchers across universities, laboratories, museums, and policy institutes. The association fosters exchange among historians, sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and practitioners engaged with the development and governance of scientific knowledge.

History

The association emerged from discussions at forums such as meetings connected to Royal Society symposia, gatherings linked to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and conferences influenced by debates around the Manhattan Project aftermath and Cold War science policy. Early figures associated with its formation include scholars who participated in workshops alongside names connected to Thomas Kuhn, Robert Merton, Bruno Latour, Michel Foucault, and David Bloor. Its institutional precursors and allies included units tied to the National Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian Institution, the British Academy, and the Max Planck Society. Over time the association’s development intersected with projects at the Wellcome Trust, the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, and centers such as the Centre for Science Studies and the Institute for Advanced Study. The history of the association reflects intellectual currents evident in publications from presses like Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, MIT Press, and journals edited in locations such as Harvard University, University of Chicago, and Stanford University.

Structure and Membership

Organizationally the association models governance approaches used by groups like American Historical Association and Modern Language Association, with elected officers, an executive committee, and regional chapters comparable to those of the European Sociological Association and the International Sociological Association. Membership includes faculty from institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University, University of Toronto, Australian National University, University of Tokyo, and Peking University, as well as researchers at laboratories such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and museums like the Science Museum, London and the American Museum of Natural History. Affiliate members often come from policy bodies including World Health Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, European Commission, and funding bodies like the Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation. Student and early-career networks resemble organizations such as the American Political Science Association’s student sections and the Society for Social Studies of Science affiliates.

Conferences and Meetings

Annual meetings mirror formats used by the American Anthropological Association, Society for the History of Technology, and the History of Science Society, featuring panels, roundtables, and keynote lectures by scholars affiliated with King's College London, University College London, The New School, Brown University, Dartmouth College, and McGill University. Past keynote venues include institutions like the Royal Institution, the British Library, Smithsonian Institution Building, and the Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques. The association has co-hosted symposia with organizations such as the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the European Molecular Biology Organization, and the International Council for Science. Special sessions have addressed cases involving Chernobyl disaster, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Human Genome Project, CRISPR–Cas9, and controversies around Thalidomide and Vioxx.

Publications and Communications

The association supports journals and newsletters analogous to Social Studies of Science (journal), edited at institutions like Lancaster University and published by houses such as SAGE Publications, and issues working papers circulated through repositories similar to SSRN and arXiv. Members contribute to edited volumes with publishers including Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, and to special issues in periodicals like Science, Nature, The Lancet, New Scientist, and Public Understanding of Science. Communication channels include mailing lists modeled on those from H-Net, multimedia seminars co-produced with BBC Radio 4 and TED Conferences, and online platforms similar to Hypotheses.org and institutional blogs hosted by Wellcome Collection and university presses.

Awards and Recognition

The association grants prizes and honors comparable to the John Desmond Bernal Prize in related fields, and its awardees often overlap with laureates of the Holberg Prize, Kluge Prize, Kavli Prize, and fellowships from MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. It recognizes lifetime achievement, early-career scholarship, and public engagement in formats echoed by awards from the Royal Society and the British Academy. Recipients have included scholars associated with Princeton University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, and research centers such as the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.

Influence and Criticism

The association’s influence extends into policy arenas connected to European Commission science initiatives, US National Institutes of Health debates, and advisory roles to bodies like the World Health Organization and UNESCO. It has shaped curricular reforms at universities including University of California, Los Angeles, University of Michigan, and University of Sydney, and informed public debates mediated by outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, and Le Monde. Critiques, often voiced in venues associated with Critical Theory, Feminist Studies, and scholars linked to Jürgen Habermas, Donna Haraway, and Pierre Bourdieu, argue about the association’s disciplinary boundaries, representation, and relations to industry actors such as GlaxoSmithKline, Monsanto, and Google. Debates have engaged audiences at conferences like the World Congress of Sociology and spurred responses from organizations including the Society for Social Studies of Science and national academies.

Category:Learned societies