Hubris and Hybrids
in Science and Society
Andrew Jamison
A Brief History of STS
1970s – science, technology and society
- building bridges acrosss the two cultures
1980s – science, technology and strategy
- story-lines of economic innovation
1990s – science and technology studies
- story-lines of social construction
2000s – science, technology, and sustainability
- story-lines of cultural appropriation
Hubris and Hybrids
hubris: ”impious disregard of the limits
governing human action in an orderly
universe”
hybrids: ”offspring of parents that differ
in genetically determined traits”
Hubris and Hybrids in S&T
GMOs, nano
appropriate technology
globalization
sustainability
entrepreneurship
scientific citizenship
foresight
cultural assessment
technoscience
green knowledge
The Underlying Tension
”When we look at modern man, we have to face the
fact that modern man suffers from a kind of
poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring
contrast to his scientific and technological
abundance. We’ve learned to fly the air like
birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish,
but we haven’t learned to walk the earth like
brothers and sisters.”
Martin Luther King, Jr
Dealing with the Tension

educating phronesis, or moral judgment

telling stories of appropriation

focusing on contexts of use

providing a cultural assessment of S&T

making STS matter
Cultural Appropriation

At a discursive, or macro level
–

At an organizational, or meso level
–

structural and cognitive transformations
processes of institutionalization
At a personal, or micro level
–
practices of habituation and use
The Age of Technoscience

blurring discursive boundaries
–

breaking down institutional borders
–

between science (episteme) and technology (techne)
between public and private, economic and academic
mixing skills and knowledge
–
across faculties, disciplines, and societal domains
From Science to Technoscience

change in range and scope

market orientation, global reach

university-industry collaboration

”epistemic drift” (Elzinga)

the state as strategist: “picking the winners”
Transdisciplinarity
”Knowledge which emerges from a particular
context of application with its own distinct
theoretical structures, research methods
and modes of practice but which may not
be locatable on the prevailing disciplinary
map.”
Michael Gibbons et al, The New Production of Knowledge
(Sage 1994, p168)
From Science to Research

from doing experiments to doing business
–

from providing expertise to governing
–

product-oriented, or commercial research
project-oriented, or governance research
from enlightening to empowering
–
problem-oriented, or advocacy research
Contending Discourses


commercial research: hubris goes to market
- globalization, competitiveness, innovation
governance research: controlling hubris
- welfare, employment, equality, construction

advocacy research: the hybrid imagination
–
global justice, scientific citizenship,
sustainability
Contending Institutions

commercial research
- innovation networks, patent systems, markets

governance research
- state agencies, regulations, policies, laws

advocacy research
- civic organizations, public education, assessment
Contending Identities

commercial research
- academic entrepeneurs, market researchers

governance research
- expert consultants, policy researchers

advocacy research
- activist academics, action researchers
Cultural Assessment of S&T

Reflection: challenging the hype and the myths
– and giving voice to the critics

Mediation: building bridges, making spaces
– across cultures and subcultures

Engagement: doing change-oriented research
– or cultural appropriation in action
The Hybrid Imagination

integrative, as opposed to specialized

contextual, as opposed to reductionist

connective, as opposed to innovative