Have STS fallen into a political void? Depoliticisation and engagement in the case of nanotechnologies
| Autor | François Thoreau - Pierre Delvenne |
| Cargo | The authors both work at the STS unit of the SPIRAL Research Institute, University of Liege, Belgium. François Thoreau is Aspirant (PhD student) from the F.R.S.-FNRS and Pierre Delvenne is Chargé de recherches (postdoctoral researcher) from the F.RS.-FNRS |
| Páginas | 205-226 |
Política & Sociedade - Florianópolis - Volume 11 - Nº 20 - abril de 2012
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Have STS fallen into a political void?
Depoliticisation and engagement in the
case of nanotechnologies
François Thoreau
Pierre Delvenne1
Abstract
In this paper we trace some of the key points in the history of Science and
Technology Studies (STS). In particular we outline the inherently political
dynamics of the field. Against We underline two emerging patterns in
the curse of STS: the one of “depoliticisation” and the one of increasing
“engagement”. We address the case study nanotechnologies and discuss
their intertwined history with the STS. This allows us to point at the risk
that the increasing institutionalisation of STS and the political mandate
that frames and stabilizes the field’s relationship to the technological
developments would create a political void. We conclude that STS
research is at a crossroads. It is facing an important empirical turn, which
may deprive it from its political significance, and constantly redefine its
institutional constraints. STS has to continuously question its underlying
political assumptions (as it occurs more and more regarding public
participation) and to make it explicit.
1. Introduction
Research has politics. There is little need to show that academic
research is often oriented towards further purposes. For instance,
according to Wallerstein, the concept of “development” was
1 The authors both work at the STS unit of the SPIRAL Research Institute, University of
Liege, Belgium. François Thoreau is Aspirant (PhD student) from the F.R.S.-FNRS and
Pierre Delvenne is Chargé de recherches (postdoctoral researcher) from the F.RS.-FNRS.
Contact: fthoreau@ulg.ac.be, pierre.delvenne@ulg.ac.be.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/21757984.2012v11n20p205
Política & Sociedade - Florianópolis - Volume 11 - Nº 20 - abril de 2012
Have STS fallen into a political void? Depoliticisation and engagement...
François Thoreau Pierre Delvenne
206
205 – 226
elaborated post World War II by the social sciences, in relationship
with colonialist perspectives. Ultimately, it would foster the
instauration of an idea of the modern world as unique (rather
than divided between modern occident and non-modern Third
World) and induce the idea of progressive steps to take toward
progress. In this perspective, the concept of “development”
would serve the geopolitical interests of powerful nation-states,
thereafter conceived as models toward which the undeveloped
nations could tend. This model, promoted by the US government,
was actually adopted and advertised for this very purpose by the
USSR authorities (WALLERSTEIN, 2006, p. 24-26), while it was
heavily (and rightfully so) criticized by dependency theorists
(VERNENGO, 2006).
As an area of research that could possibly be qualified as
a whole field of research, Science and Technology Studies (STS),
do have politics as well. Many scholars from multiple disciplines,
ranging from history and philosophy of science to political science
and economics are nowadays gathered around the study of science
and technology. This field is essentientially interdisciplinary,
although important disciplinary boundaries still remain in practice.
Its history is written in a very short-term perspective, since the
theoretical foundations of the field as such were established back
in the 1960s and until the late 1980s, when they reached a first
level of maturity with the introduction of the Social Construction
of Technology (SCOT) approach (BIJKER, HUGHES; PINCH, 1987).
Tracing roughly the key points in the history of STS (part 1)
would allow a better understanding of where the field comes from.
Based on those elements, we will outline the inherently political
dynamics of STS. Doing so, we will underline two emerging
patterns in the curse of STS: the one of “depoliticisation” and the
one of increasing “engagement” (part 2). Of course, those two
patterns are theoretical constructs that do overlap a great deal in
reality, and are even paradoxical in many respects, although they are
complementary as well and probably part of a broader overall picture
of the STS field. From this departure point, we will address the case
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