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Fostering interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship in social studies of science, technology, and medicine across the globe.

Latest 4S News

4S Digital Website Coordinator

Published On: Aug 20, 2024

4S seeks to appoint a new Digital Website Coordinator, to work for 10 hours per week for at least 12 months. Appropriate candidates should have familiarity with STS as a domain, solid technical skills with digital infrastructures, and the ability to work collaboratively with the Managing Director and elected leadership at 4S as well as the external provider (Memberleap). The rate of pay is US$25–30 per hour depending on skills and experience, for an annual rate of pay of US $12,500–1...

4S Palestine Forum | Contributions Call

Published On: Jul 30, 2024

The 4S Palestine Forum, launched earlier this year as the initial project of the Working Group on War and Genocide that was initiated at 4S Honolulu in 2023, is welcoming further contributions.

Please submit new short blog-style entries, as well as references to published work, syllabi, and other resources by writing info@4sonline.org.

View the Palestine Forum in its entirety here: https://www.4sonline.org/palestine_forum.php

Animals, STS, and the Problem of Humanity in Gaza

Published On: Aug 21, 2024

This blog post asks, how can STS respond to dehumanization?

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4S Publications

Science, Technology, and Human Values

For more than forty years, Science, Technology, & Human Values has provided the forum for cutting-edge research and debate in the field of science and technology studies.

Learn More About STHV ⪢

Underground Roots for Ancestral Futures: Exploring Lithium Through an Experimental Alliance between Chemistry and Anthropology

Cristobal Bonelli

Science, Technology, & Human Values, Ahead of Print.
Amid the push for decarbonization and the rise of lithium-ion batteries, global demand for lithium urges an examination of its materiality. Drawing on Barry's chemical...

Reflections on an Inclusive Boundary Worker

Nelly Oudshoorn

Science, Technology, & Human Values, Ahead of Print.
This essay is part of a Thematic Collection of Science, Technology & Human Values on the work of Adele E. Clarke (1945–2024).

Out of Sync: The Making and Remaking of Data and Regulations on Greenhouse Gases at the International Maritime Organization

Kjersti Aalbu

Science, Technology, & Human Values, Ahead of Print.
This article explores the entanglements of the making of data and climate regulations at a specialized UN agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Based on...

The Shadow Bodies of Mice: Invisible Work in Translational Medicine

Carrie Friese

Science, Technology, & Human Values, Ahead of Print.
The clinician-scientist is often viewed as the crucial nexus in the translational processes that turn scientific research into medical technologies, including but not limited...

The Techno-Optics of Safety: Surveillance and Women's Ambivalent Experiences in South Korea's “Smart Safe City”

Chamee Yang

Science, Technology, & Human Values, Ahead of Print.
The rise of “scientific security” discourse has spurred the use of optical technologies and data analytics in crime prevention. It has coincided with a shift in smart...

Engaging Science, Technology and Society

Engaging Science, Technology, & Society is an online, open access publication of The Society for Social Studies of Science.

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Caring for Scholarship in Transition

Published On: Apr 15 2024

Ali Kenner, Clément Dréano , Noela Invernizzi , Duygu Kaşdoğan , Aalok Khandekar , Angela Okune , Grant Jun Otsuki , Sujatha Raman , Tim Schütz , Federico Vasen, Amanda Windle , Emily York

This editorial briefly reflects on the idea of transition—a theme that cuts across energy systems, migration, and education, to name a few—and is likely familiar to many readers. In this issue, we focus on transition within...

Collaborative Ethnography and Matters of Care in Counterspaces

Published On: Apr 22 2024

Coleen Carrigan, Joyce Yen, Cara Margherio, Christine Grant, Claire Horner-Devine, Eve Riskin, Julie Ivy, Burren Peil

This paper offers a reflexive analysis of an interdisciplinary and cross-race collaboration to advance equity in engineering called LATTICE (Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: an Intentional Community in Engineering). We...

Algorithms in the Margins: Organized Community Resistance to Port Automation in the Los Angeles Harbor Area

Published On: Apr 22 2024

Taylor M Cruz, Jaewoo Park, Emily Moore, Austin Chen, Andrea Gordillo

Public deliberations on artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) provoke strong interest in automation, or the perceived displacement of human labor due to general technological advances. Social science scholarship...

Maintenance and Its Knowledges: Functional Exploration, Biographical Supervision, and Behavioural Examination

Published On: Apr 22 2024

Jérôme Denis, Daniel Florentin, David Pontille

This introductory article to the thematic collection entitled “Maintenance and its Knowledges” makes a significant departure from breakdown-centred studies. It foregrounds the epistemic virtues of maintenance, a practice that...

4S Blog: Backchannels

Regulating Generative AI Threats and Social Commons in the Public Interest

Sarah Cheung (University of Edinburgh)
Aug 26, 2024
In this post, Sarah Cheung (University of Edinburgh) examines the ways in which generative AI continually refigures the 'digital public sphere', portending new regulatory regimes and possibilities.

The hidden health dangers of data labeling in AI development

Carlos Andrés Arroyave Bernal
Aug 20, 2024
Carlos Andrés Arroyave Bernal offers a commentary on the role of health among data labelers in artificial intelligence, most of whom are Venezuelan immigrants. The text is based on the preliminary findings of his doctoral research titled "Dignity as a Commodity? Labor Process and Partial Inclusion among Data Labelers in Artificial Intelligence in Colombia"

Congress report/Relatório de evento/Reporte de congreso: XV ESOCITE 2024

Jorge Alexander Daza Cardona
Aug 14, 2024
In this trilingual post, Jorge Alexander Daza Cardona reflects on his experiences at the XV Latin American Conference on Social Studies of Science and Technology (ESOCITE 2024), organized by the Latin American Association for the Social Studies of Science and Technology (ESOCITE)

Major Internet Outages are Getting Bigger and Occurring More Often: A Reflection on the CrowdStrike IT Outage

A.R.E. Taylor (Senior Lecturer in Communications at the University of Exeter)
Aug 12, 2024
In this timely post, A.R.E. Taylor, an anthropologist of technology and Senior Lecturer in Communications at the University of Exeter reflects on the wider socioeconomic issues underpinning the CrowdStrike IT outage that occurred on Friday 19th July 2024.

Backchannels content is contributed by our members to highlight news relevant to their work.

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Making and Doing: STS Beyond the Four Corners of the Paper

STS News

Items submitted by the community and emailed to members monthly.

4S Digital Website Coordinator

Aug 20, 2024
4S seeks to appoint a new Digital Website Coordinator, to work for 10 hours per week for at least 12 months. Appropriate candidates should have familiarity with STS as a domain, solid technical skills with digital infrastructures, and the ability to work collaboratively with the Managing Director and elected leadership at 4S as well as the external provider (Memberleap). The rate of pay is US$25–30 per hour depending on skills and experience, for an annual rate of pay of US $12,500–1...

4S Palestine Forum | Contributions Call

Jul 30, 2024
The 4S Palestine Forum, launched earlier this year as the initial project of the Working Group on War and Genocide that was initiated at 4S Honolulu in 2023, is welcoming further contributions.

Please submit new short blog-style entries, as well as references to published work, syllabi, and other resources by writing info@4sonline.org.

View the Palestine Forum in its entirety here: https://www.4sonline.org/palestine_forum.php

Lead Editor(s) | Social Studies of Science

Jun 21, 2024
The journal Social Studies of Science (SSS) is inviting expressions of interest for the journal’s Lead Editor(s).

The SSS Lead Editor(s) are expected to fill the position for a minimum of three years following a transition in collaboration with the current Editor, Sergio Sismondo, with possible renewal for a second term. We are glad to consider proposals either from individuals, or for co-editorship. The Lead Editor or editorial team has primary responsibility for the ongoing curati...

BKC Summer 2024 Internship Program

Mar 09, 2024
The Berkman Klein Center’s Summer Internship Program gives interns the opportunity to become deeply embedded within the projects and work happening across the Center. Interns spend the summer months working side-by-side with Berkman Klein staff, fellows, and scholars to keep projects moving forward, learning along the way. Interns will make valuable contributions over the course of the summer, to a wide range of projects based on the Center’s needs and the intern’s skills.
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