Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society recent issues

The Social Study of Corporate Science: A Research Manifesto

Penders, B., Verbakel, J. M. A., Nelis, A. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

Laboratory ethnographies have provided valuable insights in the workings of contemporary science and technology and about facts in the making. Nearly all these ethnographic studies have been conducted at nonprofit research institutes. In this article, the authors argue that it is time for science and technology studies (STS) ethnography to direct its gaze toward for-profit knowledge production sites. The authors do so, based on a long-standing recognition that nonprofit academic laboratories do not have a monopoly on knowledge construction. First, they historicize STS’ focus on public knowledge production, distinguishing between two roles for STS. Second, they argue that relationships between industry and society have changed, resulting in increasing corporate transparency. Third, they argue that this change enables STS ethnography to enter corporations and corporate laboratories. The authors conclude by proposing a research agenda for the social study of corporate science.

Evaluating Interactive Policy Making on Biotechnology: The Case of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport

Broerse, J. E. W., de Cock Buning, T., Roelofsen, A., Bunders, J. F. G. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

Public engagement is increasingly advocated and applied in the development and implementation of technological innovations. However, initiatives so far are rarely considered effective. There is a need for more methodological rigor and insight into conducive conditions. The authors developed an evaluative framework and assessed accordingly the effectiveness of a project of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in which the application of interactive policy making was piloted in medical biotechnology, among others, to increase the legitimacy and quality of the policy agenda. Relevant societal actors, including citizens, were actively involved in an open-exchange, action and reflection process, integrating relevant knowledge. Although the project was overall evaluated as effective, some difficulties were faced. These were mostly related to the novel roles public engagement requires of principal actors. The article concludes that more research is needed on the position of the executing team and on overcoming tensions existing between different governance modes.

Google and Godel

Oberdan, T. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

The article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" in last Summer’s Atlantic Monthly, raised a number of provocative, and indeed worrisome, questions about computer usage and cognitive development. For instance, persons with considerable experience of reading for the sake of pleasure report that, after a couple of years using computers a great deal, they have experienced a loss of interest in pleasure-reading, even feeling impatient when written sources do not supply the information they seek quickly and conveniently. One suggestion is that these effects are somehow related to the mathematical basis of computing provided in the work of Alan Turing. Since, however, Turing's work is based on earlier work by Kurt Gödel, the question may be referred to Gödel's results and it is argued that the mathematical architecture underlying computer operation and applications in no way limits the creativity or even the cognitive activity of its users.

Learning From Fiction: Applications in Emerging Technologies

Gordon, R. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

Understanding the development of public opinion about emerging technologies, when the scope of that emergence is still speculative, poses particular challenges. Opinions and beliefs may be drawn from conflicting experts in multiple fields, media portrayals with varying biases, and fictional narratives that portray diverse possible futures. This article draws on research in cognitive and social psychology to discuss how fiction in particular may influence beliefs about emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. Fiction can affect beliefs about the developments that are most likely, the relative weight of possible risks and benefits, and the desirability of potential technology-related outcomes. These beliefs, in turn, influence public support of regulation and funding, sometimes in ways that have little to do with the actual issues immediately at hand.

The Social and Material Culture of Hyperautomobility: "Hyperauto"

Freund, P., Martin, G. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

The automobile is a key artifact for understanding the relationship between technology and society. As it has developed into a mass-produced and mass-consumed commodity, it has played an increasing role in social life and its built environments. In its most exaggerated manifestation, in parts of the United States, the car is a singular transport mode for expansive urban regions. This social formation, often referred to as "urban sprawl," has been cited for its environmental and energy impact. Here, the focus is on its social structural impact on motorists as well as on nonmotorists. The auto is a prime example of how material technologies have dynamic and reciprocal relationships with their social contexts. These relationships raise significant ethical issues with regard to the development and application of technology.

Webmasters Reveal the Rules: Do Regulations Compromise Legislators' Online Communication With Constituents?

Reetz Narro, A. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

In a nationwide study of state legislative Web sites, Narro, Mayo, and Miller found that the communication tools (i.e., weblogs, electronic newsletters, online polling) that state legislators offer vary more from state to state than legislator to legislator. Taking their information into account, this article addresses regulations put on legislators’ home pages.The author interviewed Webmasters in 44 states and found that having less limitations and allowing legislators freedom to manipulate their home pages encourage them to use these home pages for active communication. Although most states do not allow state legislators to use home pages as a campaign tool, some allow free flow of communication between legislators and constituents. The researcher found that legislators would use their home pages more as a communication tool if given the freedom. However, change begins with legislators, who are the policy makers. Whether they have freedom is their own choice.

Overview on Biofuels From a European Perspective

Ponti, L., Gutierrez, A. P. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

In light of the recently developed European Union (EU) Biofuels Strategy, the literature is reviewed to examine (a) the coherency of biofuel production with the EU nonindustrial vision of agriculture, and (b) given its insufficient land base, the implications of a proposed bioenergy pact to grow biofuel crops in the developing world to meet EU biofuel demands. The EU acknowledged that the use of food crops for biofuel production was based on wrong assumptions concerning climate change mitigation, and its support has now shifted to second-generation nonfood crops. The bioenergy pact entails (a) biofuel crops production in developing countries, especially Africa, that in the absence of environmental and social regulations may lead to ethical trade-offs in land use (food vs. fuel) and (b) the use of transgenic technology that conflicts with the EU’s own vision of sustainable agriculture.

Book Review: What are we Escaping From?: Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2005. 334 pp

Bingham, L. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

Book Review: The Antikythera Mechanism: A 2,000-Year-Old Greek Computer for Deciphering Heavens and Earth: Jo Marchant Decoding the Heavens. New York: Da Capo Press, 2009. 328 pp. $25.00

Vallianatos, E. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:15:24 PST

Introduction

Victor, P. A. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

Incorporating Values in a Bottom-Line Ecological Economy

Daly, H. E. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

The search for a social goodness function in economic systems is reviewed, especially in light of the fact that the economy is a subsystem of a biosphere that has its own rules for determining success, or at least for limiting feasibility. The frequent perversity of reductionist quantitative success indicators in economics (profit, quotas, GDP) is mainly attributed to the preanalytic vision of the economy as an isolated circular flow, and of homo economicus as an atomistic individual isolated from community, both social and biological. Specific examples of such perversity are considered.

Science and Ecological Economics: Integrating of the Study of Humans and the Rest of Nature

Costanza, R. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

Ecological economics is a transdisciplinary field that seeks to integrate the study of humans and the rest of nature as the basis for the creation of a sustainable and desirable future. It seeks to dissolve the barriers between the traditional disciplines and achieve a true consilience of all the sciences and humanities. This consilient, transdisciplinary science represents a rebalancing of analysis and synthesis; a recognition of the central role of envisioning in science; a pragmatic philosophy built on complex systems theory, thermodynamics, and modeling; a multiscale approach; and a consistent integration of cultural and biological coevolution. It will allow us to build a world that is both sustainable and desirable and that recognizes our fundamental partnership with the rest of nature.

The Nature of the Beast and the Beast in Nature: Broadening the Perspective of Technology

Ruth, M. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

This article traces conceptualizations of technology from narrow definitions to a broader understanding that encompasses the larger social and environmental context within which technology operates. In doing so, the associated social and environmental drivers and impacts of technology are identified and conclusions are drawn for the roles of technology and technology change in achieving sustainability.

Scale, Composition, and Technology

Victor, P. A. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

Scale (gross domestic product), composition (goods and services), and technology (impacts per unit of goods and services) in combination are the proximate determinants in an economy of the resources used, wastes generated, and land transformed. In this article, we examine relationships among these determinants to understand better the contribution that changes in each have made in the past, and might in the future, to reduce the burden placed on the environment by the economy. Using the IPAT equation we assess quantitatively historical changes in scale, composition, and technology in Canada and their respective contributions to changes in environmental impact. The Kaya equation provides a similar framework for a more in-depth consideration of the changes in scale, composition, and technology required to achieve a substantial reduction in global emissions of carbon dioxide. We conclude that it is essential to address scale as part of the solution.

Sydney Tar Ponds Remediation: Experience to China

Liu, F., Bryson, K. A. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

The infamous "Sydney Tar Ponds" are well known as one of the largest toxic waste sites of Canada, due to almost 100 years of steelmaking in Sydney, a once beautiful and peaceful city located on the east side of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. This article begins with a contextual overview of the Tar Ponds issue including a brief introduction and history and summaries of the effects on the earth, the people, and the biotic community (animals and vegetation). Then the authors talk about the STS analysis approach, namely, a discussion of six systems to indicate what has been brought to the earth and mankind by technology and modern industry. The remaining part of the article describes the difficulties confronting China, some of which are similar to the ones Canada faces as a result of the Tar Ponds contamination, and summarizes some of the experiences at Tar Ponds and the lessons China can learn from Tar Ponds.

Feeling Blue in the South Valley: A Case Study of Nitrate Contamination in Albuquerque's South Valley

Mohr, B. A. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

This article examines, by way of a case study, a community where groundwater has been highly contaminated with nitrate and how that situation brings together matters of public policy, environmental justice, and emerging technology. The Mountain View community lies in an unincorporated area of Bernalillo County, New Mexico; the neighborhood is 77% Hispanic and is a pocket of poverty whose residents are considered at risk for environmental injustice. Groundwater nitrate contamination was discovered in the 1960s, but residents were merely encouraged to dig deeper wells, until 1984 when most residents were put on nearby municipal water after a child was poisoned and hospitalized with methemoglobinemia, known as blue baby syndrome. In situ biodenitrification is an emerging technology that has been shown to completely remediate groundwater nitrate contamination after the injection of a food source for naturally occurring denitrifying bacteria; this technology is being considered for use in Mountain View.

Rethinking Engineering Design and Decision Making in Response to Economic, Social, and Environmental Crises

Vanderburg, W. H. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

High levels of specialization have created knowledge with little or no "peripheral vision," and the resulting "blind spots" are causing many "collisions" with human life, society, and the biosphere. Each discipline and specialty must be equipped with a "map" showing its connections to everything else, but especially the negative consequences that tend to be associated with its practices. Preventively oriented practices can improve the ratio of desired to undesired effects of design and decision making to create ways of life that are more sustainable across the board, as opposed to treating symptoms (such as global warming). This new approach has already fired the imagination of many students in engineering.

Book Review: Stivers, R. (2008). The Illusion of Freedom and Equality. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 102

Hamblet, W. C. — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:51 PDT

Inconvenient Truths About the Economic Crisis

Vanderburg, W. H. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

The Internet and Democracy: Global Catalyst or Democratic Dud?

Best, M. L., Wade, K. W. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

In this study, we explore the global effect of the Internet on democracy over the period of 1992 to 2002 by observing the relationships between measures related to democracy and Internet prevalence. Our findings suggest that while Internet usage was not a very powerful predictor of democracy when examining full panel data from 1992 to 2002, it was a stronger predictor when we study data from just the years 2001 to 2002. We hypothesize that the jump in the ability of Internet penetration indicators to explain variation in democratization that occurred in 2000 suggests that the Internet may have only recently come into its own as a positive force for democratization. However, these results are not globally consistent, and we show that some regions do not enjoy a positive Internet/democracy correlation suggesting that the Internet can be used both as a tool for democratization as well as an instrument for authoritarianism.

How the Internet Shapes Religious Life, or the Medium Is Itself the Message

van der Laan, J.M. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

The Internet has become a resource for everyone for everything. It is accordingly now also a source of sermons and much more for pastors of churches in the USA. In consequence, the Internet shapes and alters how pastors and parishioners practice their religion. Because "the medium is the message," as Marshall McLuhan observed, Internet sermons necessarily reflect and convey something of their Internet source. So, too, the nature and content religious life changes and takes on the characteristics of its new source of inspiration, the Internet. As the dominant expression of technology today, the Internet reveals technology ultimately and in the words of Jacques Ellul as "the real religion of our time."

Heidegger, Digital Technology, and Postmodern Education: From Being in Cyberspace to Meeting on MySpace

Walters, P., Kop, R. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

Digital technology is transforming life and is beginning to have a profound effect on individual psychic life and the wider social milieu. This article seeks to understand the nature of the new technology and its implications for personal life, culture, and education. The scene is set by comparing the introduction of printing to the revolution inaugurated by digital technology. This new age is often called "postmodern," and some of the characteristics of the age suggested by Lyotard, Baudrillard, McLuhan, and others are identified. The cultural impact of technology, according to Heidegger, is outlined, together with the interpretation in terms of digital technology proposed by Dreyfus and Spinosa. This is illustrated with examples and compared with the position of other thinkers. Finally, the consequences for education, including universities, are presented, and some proposals for approaches to education in terms of meaning, embodiment, and teacher-student relationship are considered.

Science-Technology-Society (STS): A New Paradigm in Science Education

Mansour, N. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

Changes in the past two decades of goals for science education in schools have induced new orientations in science education worldwide. One of the emerging complementary approaches was the science-technology-society (STS) movement. STS has been called the current megatrend in science education. Others have called it a paradigm shift for the field of science education. The success of science education reform depends on teachers' ability to integrate the philosophy and practices of current programs of science education reform with their existing philosophy. Thus, when considering the STS approach to science education, teacher beliefs about STS implementation require attention. Without this attention, negative beliefs concerning STS implementation and inquiry learning could defeat the reform movements emphasizing STS. This article argues the role of STS in science education and the importance of considering science teachers' beliefs about STS in implementing significant reforms in science education.

Bridging the Gap?

Salter, C. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

The political context of the conversion of the Historic Tramway Bridge, adjacent to Sandon Point in Bulli (NSW, Australia), and how this was exploited to serve predetermined ends, illustrates that technologies can be designed to have particular social (and political) effects. Through reflection on this relatively small engineering project, this paper provides a concrete example of what Langdon Winner (1986) attempted to expose in his (in)famous and contested analysis of "the low bridges of Robert Moses". The means through which this project reflected specific political and economic interests, and how such interests were largely unmarked and unquestioned, locate issues of concerns for the broader public and the engineering profession as a whole. In reflecting on the Tramway Bridge conversion, consideration is given to how far the project of creating the new engineer has progressed in seeking to address the great social, economic, environmental and cultural challenges of our time (Johnson, 1996).

The Environment, Energy, and the Tinbergen Rule

Knudson, W. A. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

Higher energy prices and the growing concern about global warming have led to a number of policy goals and targets designed to curb global warming and/or the development of alternative sources of energy. However, the Tinbergen Rule states that for each and every policy target there must be at least one policy tool. If there are fewer tools than targets, then some policy goals will not be achieved. Further complicating the public policy environment are the facts that some policy tools affect more than one target, some tools help achieve more than one target, and others, while meeting one target, make meeting other targets more difficult. Also, some targets are more efficient than others. If policy makers are going to be able to effectively meet their environmental and energy goals, a series of policy tools need to be developed.

Public Perceptions and Expectations of the Forensic Use of DNA: Results of a Preliminary Study

Curtis, C. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

The forensic use of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is demonstrating significant success as a crime-solving tool. However, numerous concerns have been raised regarding the potential for DNA use to contravene cultural, ethical, and legal codes. In this article the expectations and level of knowledge of the New Zealand public of the DNA data-bank and the surrounding processes are discussed. A questionnaire was developed in consultation with key stakeholders, comprising a combination of open and closed questions. The ensuing survey comprised a sample of 100 participants. Although participants initially appeared in favor of the forensic use of DNA, particularly in regard to the collection of DNA from sex offenders, perceptions and attitudes were based on limited knowledge of processes, policies, and implications. Upon further discussion and reflection a number of concerns were raised, such as ownership of DNA samples and the potential for misuse.

Participatory Paradoxes: Facilitating Citizen Engagement in Science and Technology From the Top-Down?

Powell, M. C., Colin, M. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:18 PDT

Mechanisms to engage lay citizens in science and technology are currently in vogue worldwide. While some engagement exercises aim to influence policy making, research suggests that they have had little discernable impacts in this regard. We explore the potentials and challenges of facilitating citizen engagement in nanotechnology from the "topdown," addressing the following questions: Can academics and others within institutions initiate meaningful engagement with unorganized lay citizens from the top-down? Can they facilitate effective engagement among citizens, scientists, and policy makers while building citizen engagement capacities? Is it possible to create independent bottom-up citizen engagement in scientific and technological issues from the top-down, and what are the challenges in doing so? Our experiences show that although academics can build citizens' individual, collective, and political capacities to engage with each other, scientists, and policy makers, this work is enormously time and energy intensive, and institutional support is needed to sustain it.

Agrofuels and Agrifoods: Counting the Externalities at the Major Crossroads of the 21st Century

Pengue, W. A. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

The economically successful model of industrial agriculture that is currently expanding throughout Argentina is leading to deep social, economic, environmental, and logistical changes that are seriously restricting the sustainability of the rural, urban and environmental systems. The transformation of activities, the arrival of new technologies, the arrival of organizations with large financial and technological capabilities, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of small-scale and medium-scale farmers and their reallocation to new productive functions are not only affecting the social sustainability of the rural sector but are affecting the urban communal plots of villages and towns located on the Chacopampeana Plain. Now, the production of agrofuels as a response to international global demand will promote the ecological and social depletion that Argentina has been facing from the beginning of the 1990s. We argue in terms of ecological economics that externalities should be included in the costs of companies, not just economic costs.

The Agrofuels Transition: Restructuring Places and Spaces in the Global Food System

Holt-Gimenez, E., Shattuck, A. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

Despite recent critiques of agrofuels, the industry is booming, signaling transformations in the world's food and fuels systems. International financial institutions, biotechnology firms, governments, and agribusiness are restructuring control over land, genetic resources, economic space, and market power. These moves prefer transnational capital at the expense of farmers in the North and extensive areas vital to the livelihoods of small producers in the Global South. This article suggests that the agrofuels boom may be a new—and particularly destructive—stage in industry's extractive transformations of agriculture. The movement-based logic of food sovereignty—people's right to define their own food and agriculture systems—suggests a rollback of the "agrofuels transition" is possible.

Agrofuels, Food Sovereignty, and the Contemporary Food Crisis

Rosset, P. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

In this article, agrofuels are examined in the context of the world food price crisis and the "food sovereignty" proposal for addressing the crisis. Both short- and long-term causes of the crisis are examined, and while agrofuels are presently not a prime causal factor they are clearly contraindicated by the crisis. Food sovereignty, including a moratorium on agrofuels, is argued to offer the best option for managing the crisis.

A First Law Thermodynamic Analysis of Biodiesel Production From Soybean

Patzek, T. W. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

A proper First Law energy balance of the soybean biodiesel cycle shows that the overall efficiency of biodiesel production is 0.18, i.e., only 1 in 5 parts of the solar energy sequestered as soya beans, plus the fossil energy inputs, becomes biodiesel. Soybean meal is produced with an overall energetic efficiency of 0.38, but it is not a fossil fuel. If both biodiesel and soybean meal were treated as finished fossil fuels, the overall energy efficiency of their production would be 0.56, ~ 40% higher than the average overall efficiency, 0.4, of producing ethanol and DDGS from corn patzek 2006z, patzek 2007a. This difference is caused by the high energy efficiency of producing soybean meal, which is 57% of soya beans by mass. Production of corn ethanol alone, with the average overall efficiency of 0.25, is more energy-efficient than production of biodiesel from soybeans with the overall efficiency of 0.18. The results of the current analysis are compared with those by NREL 1998 and Hill et al. 2006.

Biofuel Food Disasters and Cellulosic Ethanol Problems

Pimentel, D. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

As shortages of fossil energy, especially oil and natural gas, become evident, the United States has moved to convert corn grain into ethanol with the goal to make the nation oil independent. Using more than 20% of all U.S. corn on 15 million acres in 2007 was providing the nation with less than 1% of U.S. oil consumption. Because the corn ethanol project has been a disaster, there is growing interest to develop cellulosic ethanol. Wood, grasses, and crop residues are being proposed as sources for ethanol fuel. Though it may seem beneficial to use renewable plant materials for biofuel, the use of crop residues and other biomass for biofuels raises major concerns about energy balance, food security, and environmental problems.

Bioeconomic Sustainability of Cellulosic Biofuel Production on Marginal Lands

Gutierrez, A. P., Ponti, L. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

The use of marginal land (ML) for lignocellulosic biofuel production is examined for system stability, resilience, and eco-social sustainability. A North American prairie grass system and its industrialization for maximum biomass production using biotechnology and agro-technical inputs is the focus of the analysis. Demographic models of ML biomass production and ethanol farmer/producers are used to examine the stability properties of the ML system. A bio-economic model that maximizes the utility of consumption having the dynamics of MLs and the farmer/producers as dynamic constraints is used to examine the effects of increased conversion efficiency, input costs, risk, and levels of base resources and inputs on the competitive and societal solutions for biomass production. We posit ML abandonment after biofuel production ceases could lead to permanent land degradation below initial levels that prohibit the establishment of the original flora and fauna.

Between Development and Environment: Uncertainties of Agrofuels

Leon Sicard, T. E. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

This article examines the dominant agricultural model in Colombia of which the emergence of biofuels is an inevitable and major consequence. Some uncertainties and complexities of the introduction of biofuels and the use of genetically modified crops are analyzed, including a general reflection on the possibilities of producing biofuels on the basis of a model of ecological agriculture.

The Ecological Impacts of Large-Scale Agrofuel Monoculture Production Systems in the Americas

Altieri, M. A. — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT

This article examines the expansion of agrofuels in the Americas and the ecological impacts associated with the technologies used in the production of large-scale monocultures of corn and soybeans. In addition to deforestation and displacement of lands devoted to food crops due to expansion of agrofuels, the massive use of transgenic crops and agrochemical inputs, mainly fertilizers and herbicides used in the production of agrofuels, pose grave environmental problems.

Call for Papers

Tue, 19 May 2009 18:01:39 PDT