Society for Social Studies of Science

Society for Social Studies of Science
Name	Society for Social Studies of Science
Abbrev	4S
Formation	1975
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	United States
Region served	International
Language	English

Society for Social Studies of Science is an international scholarly association that advances study of science and technology in social context. Founded in 1975, it brings together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from diverse locales such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, Paris, Tokyo, Delhi, and São Paulo to examine interactions among Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Rosalind Franklin, Albert Einstein, and contemporary actors. The society interfaces with institutions like Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Max Planck Society, and National Science Foundation to foster comparative work on topics that intersect with events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Chernobyl disaster, the Apollo Program, and the Human Genome Project.

History

The organization emerged from gatherings of scholars influenced by landmark works and figures including Thomas Kuhn, Robert K. Merton, Michel Foucault, Bruno Latour, and Steve Woolgar, and from networks associated with journals and institutions such as Social Studies of Science (journal), Science, Technology, & Human Values (journal), University of Edinburgh, Stanford University, Columbia University, and University of Pennsylvania. Early conferences featured themes linked to debates sparked by Cold War research agendas, the rise of biotechnology controversies exemplified by the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA, environmental crises like the Love Canal, and infrastructures such as the Internet and NASA. Over subsequent decades the society expanded through regional chapters connected with entities including the European Commission, UNESCO, World Health Organization, African Union, Asian Development Bank, and national academies such as the Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences.

Mission and Objectives

The society's stated mission aligns with intellectual currents from scholars like Donna Haraway, Susan Leigh Star, Harry Collins, Evelyn Fox Keller, and Ian Hacking, promoting interdisciplinary research that interrogates technologies, laboratories, and knowledge-production sites such as Bell Labs, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Salk Institute, and CERN. Objectives include fostering dialogue across communities represented by American Sociological Association, American Anthropological Association, Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, supporting comparative studies of policy moments like the Montreal Protocol and the Paris Agreement, and encouraging critical engagement with corporations such as Monsanto, Pfizer, Google, Microsoft, and Shell.

Membership and Governance

Membership draws scholars and practitioners affiliated with universities and research centers including Yale University, Princeton University, Brown University, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, University of Tokyo, Peking University, and University of Cape Town. Governance is structured through an elected council and officers modeled after associations like American Historical Association and Modern Language Association, with committees liaising with funders such as the Wellcome Trust, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and national research councils including European Research Council and National Institutes of Health. Notable past leaders include scholars associated with MIT, UCL, Cornell University, University of Sussex, and Johns Hopkins University.

Conferences and Meetings

The society organizes annual and biennial meetings hosted in cities such as Boston, Toronto, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Seoul, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Copenhagen, and Beijing, often co-located with events by History of Science Society, European Association for the Study of Science and Technology, and regional networks like the Latin American Studies Association. Program themes have intersected with moments such as the Green Revolution, debates over stem cell research highlighted by policy in California, the politics surrounding vaccination campaigns during outbreaks like SARS and COVID-19 pandemic, and technological controversies exemplified by surveillance capitalism debates around Facebook and Twitter.

Publications and Awards

The society sponsors journals and publication series linked to venues like Oxford University Press, Routledge, SAGE Publications, University of Chicago Press, and MIT Press, and recognizes contributions through awards named in honor of figures comparable to Thomas Kuhn, Robert Merton, Bruno Latour, and Donna Haraway. Its flagship outlets publish work ranging from case studies of institutions such as Genentech and Monsanto to theoretical interventions that dialogue with texts by Karl Popper, Michel Callon, Andrew Pickering, Gilles Deleuze, and Paul Feyerabend. Prize committees have acknowledged scholarship that engages controversies like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, debates over GMOs during the World Trade Organization negotiations, and ethics issues as in the Nuremberg Code aftermath.

Impact and Criticism

Scholars affiliated with the society have influenced policy debates at organizations such as European Commission, US Food and Drug Administration, World Bank, World Health Organization, and UNESCO, and have shaped curricula across departments at institutions like MIT, UCL, University of Amsterdam, and Stanford University. Critics drawn from perspectives associated with Positivism, Marxism, Feminist epistemology, and Science communication have contested the society's methods and political stances, debating episodes involving figures like Rachel Carson, Edward Jenner, and controversies such as the Wakefield affair. Debates continue over inclusivity, decolonization initiatives engaging scholars from Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and the balance between advocacy and analysis amid crises including the Climate change negotiations and public health emergencies like the Ebola virus epidemic.

Category:Learned societies