Social Studies of Science current issue

Editorial

Lynch, M. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

Entrepreneurial Science: The Rules of the Game

Jones, M. P. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

Scholars across a range of academic fields continue to rely on Robert K. Merton’s scientific norms to frame analyses of the privatization of research in the life sciences. I revisit constructivist criticisms of the Mertonian approach and then develop an empirically grounded interpretation of academic entrepreneurship. Focusing on the case of an early biotech entrepreneur, I investigate how scientists and university administrators managed intellectual property issues and conflicts of interest and commitment during the ‘biotech revolution’ of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This story shows that many contemporary studies — both supportive and critical of privatization — misunderstand or misrepresent the ethical dimensions of faculty participation in commerce.

Confronting the Stigma of Eugenics: Genetics, Demography and the Problems of Population

Ramsden, E. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

Building upon the work of Thomas Gieryn and Erving Goffman, this paper will explore how the concepts of stigma and boundary work can be usefully applied to history of population science. Having been closely aligned to eugenics in the early 20th century, from the 1930s both demographers and geneticists began to establish a boundary between their own disciplines and eugenic ideology. The eugenics movement responded to this process of stigmatization. Through strategies defined by Goffman as ‘disclosure’ and ‘concealment’, stigma was managed, and a limited space for eugenics was retained in science and policy. Yet by the 1960s, a revitalized eugenics movement was bringing leading social and biological scientists together through the study of the genetic demography of characteristics such as intelligence. The success of this programme of ‘stigma transformation’ resulted from its ability to allow geneticists and demographers to conceive of eugenic improvement in ways that seemed consistent with the ideals of individuality, diversity and liberty. In doing so, it provided them with an alternative, and a challenge, to more radical and controversial programmes to realize an optimal genotype and population. The processes of stigma attribution and management are, however, ongoing, and since the rise of the nature—nurture controversy in the 1970s, the use of eugenics as a ‘stigma symbol’ has prevailed.

The Intersection of Gender, Race and Cultural Boundaries, or Why is Computer Science in Malaysia Dominated by Women?

Mellstrom, U. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

This paper reports an investigation on how and why computer science in Malaysia is dominated by women. Inspired by recent critical interventions in gender and technology studies, the paper aims to open up more culturally situated analyses of the gendering of technology or the technology of gendering, with the Malaysian case exemplifying the core of the argument. The paper argues along four different strands of critical thought: (1) a critique of the analytical asymmetry in the process of co-production in gender and technology studies; (2) a critique of a western bias in gender and technology studies, advocating more context sensitivity and focus on the cultural embeddedness of gender and technology relations; (3) a critique that pays more attention to spatial practices and body politics in regard to race, class and gender in relation to technology; and (4) a critique of ‘western’ positional notions of gender configurations that opens up for more fluid constructions of gender identity, including the many crossovers between relational and positional definitions of femininity and masculinity.

Origins of the Problem of Health-related Behaviours: A Genealogical Study

Armstrong, D. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

In recent years a number of public health, prevention and disease management strategies have emerged that depend on changing health-related behaviours. The definition of those behaviours, indeed of the very idea of behaviour, remains unchallenged in these initiatives, as behaviour is a taken-for-granted concept. Yet the idea of a changeable behaviour is a relatively recent phenomenon and the aim of this paper is to map its emergence and transformation over the last century. Its origins are shown to lie in the first half of the 20th century when it was derived from the ideas of conduct and movement. From mid-century onwards, it has been increasingly construed as being underpinned by a sense of agency and as a legitimate target for healthcare interventions. Finally, in the 21st century it has become stabilized as a core dimension of health and illness.

Parents Who Influence Their Children to Become Scientists: Effects of Gender and Parental Education

Sonnert, G. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

In this paper we report on testing the ‘role-model’ and ‘opportunity-structure’ hypotheses about the parents whom scientists mentioned as career influencers. According to the role-model hypothesis, the gender match between scientist and influencer is paramount (for example, women scientists would disproportionately often mention their mothers as career influencers). According to the opportunity-structure hypothesis, the parent’s educational level predicts his/her probability of being mentioned as a career influencer (that is, parents with higher educational levels would be more likely to be named). The examination of a sample of American scientists who had received prestigious postdoctoral fellowships resulted in rejecting the role-model hypothesis and corroborating the opportunity-structure hypothesis. There were a few additional findings. First, women scientists were more likely than men scientists to mention parental influencers. Second, fathers were more likely than mothers to be mentioned as influencers. Third, an interaction was found between the scientist’s gender and parental education when predicting a parent’s nomination as influencer.

Ghosts in the Machine: Comment on Sismondo

McHenry, L. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

Ghosts in the Machine: Reply to McHenry (2009)

Sismondo, S. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

Review: Health, Materiality, and the Politics of Office Work: Michelle Murphy, Sick Building Syndrome and the Problem of Uncertainty: Environmental Politics,Technoscience, andWomenWorkers (Duke University Press, 2006), x + 253 pp., {pound}15.99/$22.95 (pbk), {pound}58.00/$79.95 (hbk). ISBN 0-8223-3671-5 (pbk), 0-8223-3659-6 (hbk).

Epstein, S. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST

Obituary: Olga Amsterdamska Moore (1953--2009)

Blume, S. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:50:19 PST