The Emergence of Technoscientific Fields and the New Political Sociology of Science

Raimbault, Benjamin; Joly, Pierre‐Benoît

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-61728-8_4

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Therefore, scientific knowledge ought not to be superior of other forms of knowledge [43]. Additionally, drawing on the constructivist insights of STS, there is a strong need for political engagement in matters of techno-science: "scientific production as a co-production process-social and epistemic, cognitive and material, cultural and natural, human and non-human" [216]. Such engagement entails much greater democratic participation of the public in the technoscientific decision-making process, as well as a larger role for STS scholars whose insights might contribute normatively to the civic enhancement of modern techno-scientific culture [217,218].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Shaping of the Metaverse as an Alternative to the Imaginaries of Data-Driven Smart Cities: A Study in Science, Technology, and Society

Bibri

2022

Smart Cities

131

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Science and technology transform the frontiers of knowledge and have deep and powerful impacts on society, demonstrating how social reality varies with each era of the world. As a set of fictional representations of technologically driven future worlds, the Metaverse is increasingly shaping the socio-technical imaginaries of data-driven smart cities, i.e., the outcome of radical transformations of dominant structures, processes, practices, and cultures. At the core of the systematic exploration of science and technology is the relationships between scientific knowledge, technological systems, and values and ethics from a wide range of perspectives. Positioned within science of science, this study investigates the complex interplay between the Metaverse as a form of science and technology and the wider social context in which it is embedded. Therefore, it adopts an analytical and philosophical framework of STS, and in doing so, it employs an integrated approach to discourse analysis, supported by a comparative analysis of the Metaverse and Ambient Intelligence. This study shows that the Metaverse as a scientific and technological activity is socially constructed, politically driven, economically conditioned, and historically situated. That is, it is inherently human and hence value-laden, as well as can only be understood as contextualized within the socio-political-economic-historical framework that gives rise to it, sustains it, and makes it durable by material effects and networks. This view in turn corroborates that the Metaverse raises serious concerns as to determinism, social exclusion, marginalization, privacy erosion, surveillance, control, democratic backsliding, hive mentality, cyber-utopianism, and dystopianism. This study argues that, due to the problematic nature of the Metaverse in terms of its inherent ethical and social implications, there need to be more explicit processes and practices for enhancing public participation and allowing a more democratic public role in its shaping and control, especially early in the decision-making process of its development—when the opportunity for effective inputs and informed choices is greatest. The novelty of this study lies in that it is the first of its kind with respect to probing the link between the Metaverse and data-driven smart cities from an STS perspective. The main contribution of this study lies in deepening and extending social scientific critiques and understandings of the imaginaries of data-driven smart cities based on the analysis and evaluation of the Metaverse and the warning signals and troubling visions it conveys and animates in order to help construct desirable alternative futures for the greater good of all citizens. The ultimate goal is to structure the Metaverse in ways that are morally acceptable and collectively the most democratically beneficial for society.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Shaping of the Metaverse as an Alternative to the Imaginaries of Data-Driven Smart Cities: A Study in Science, Technology, and Society

Bibri

2022

Smart Cities

131

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“…The ERA is considered a receptive space for transactions of various capital due to its aspirations to strengthen economic competitiveness and respond to societal challenges (Paasi, 2010;Ulnicane, 2015). Following the earlier efforts of the European Commission to make the policy process more accessible to its implementers (Sbragia, 2002, p. 12), the receptiveness toward the interpretation of the field offered by Raimbault and Joly (2021) matches the particularities of the examined empirical material, namely, the eligibility of diverse entities for participation in FPs projects. Additionally, it is instrumental for a more nuanced examination of the hybrid 'regulation by networks' beyond the study of the role of EU agencies in creating and…”

Section: Practice Theory In the Context Of The European Research Areamentioning

confidence: 91%

Participation of Morocco and Tunisia in the European Research Area: Research-intense Collaborative Patterns Across the European Southern Neighbourhood

Šime

2023

EIS

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The purpose of the study is to explore the research-intense collaborative patterns that weave the EU Southern Neighbourhood into the European Research Area through EU-funded projects. The task of this article is to test the straw-in-the-wind hypothesis which, as the results demonstrate, rightly argues that the EU Framework Programmes do not encourage very restrictive engagement in projects among Morocco- and Tunisia-based entities. The study design entails explaining-outcome process-tracing performed with data-set observations of the collaborative patterns engaging Morocco and Tunisia. Despite taking part in projects coordinated primarily by managers from the European Mediterranean littoral countries, many European centres of expertise located elsewhere included Morocco and Tunisia in their consortiums. As a result, both countries are exposed to very rich European scientific expertise, including diverse subfields, habitus and capital transactions of the European Research Area facilitated by various project management styles. The Moroccan National Institute for Agricultural Research and the Tunisian Pasteur Institute stand out because, when comparing Framework Programme 7 and Horizon 2020 project portfolios, both sustain increasing engagement. Research cooperation addresses the pressing challenges of the neighbourhood, especially in environmental and agricultural domains and the capacity to engage in international collaboration. The article commences filling the gap in the literature on the EU Southern Neighbourhood.

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Remaining Central and Interdisciplinary: Conditions for Success of a Research Speciality at the University of Strasbourg (1961–2011)

Noel

2021

Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook

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Supramolecular chemistry (SMC), at the interface between chemistry, physics and biology, is a research domain which has grown considerably in the last 40 years. Jean-Marie Lehn was the first to lay its foundations and formalise its concepts, in a seminal article published in 1978. This work earned him the 1987 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, which he shared with Charles J. Pedersen (DuPont) and Donald J. Cram (UCLA). The development of SMC has led to the creation of a dedicated institute and a new building on the university campus. In this chapter, the emergence of supramolecular chemistry as a paradigm and research speciality at the University of Strasbourg (France) is reconstructed with a focus on Lehn’s central role in this process, proposing a three-period chronology based on Mullins’ sequential model (1972). It is furthermore argued that the creation of a physical space, with particular architecture and functions, has also played a key role in consolidating what is now called the “Strasbourg’s chemistry”. The (multi)disciplinary character of SMC is discussed in reference to the concept of “new disciplinarity” put forward by Marcovich and Shinn (Soc Sci Inf 50(3–4):582–6062011, Toward a new dimension: exploring the nanoscale. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014).

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The Emergence of Technoscientific Fields and the New Political Sociology of Science

Cited by 7 publications

References 43 publications

The Social Shaping of the Metaverse as an Alternative to the Imaginaries of Data-Driven Smart Cities: A Study in Science, Technology, and Society

The Social Shaping of the Metaverse as an Alternative to the Imaginaries of Data-Driven Smart Cities: A Study in Science, Technology, and Society

Participation of Morocco and Tunisia in the European Research Area: Research-intense Collaborative Patterns Across the European Southern Neighbourhood

Remaining Central and Interdisciplinary: Conditions for Success of a Research Speciality at the University of Strasbourg (1961–2011)

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